KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly have serious reservations over the party high command for ‘ignoring’ them and taking decisions ‘without taking them on board’ on matters pertaining to the city from where they were elected, said PML-N parliamentary party leader in the assembly Irfanullah Khan Marwat on Monday.
Speaking to a group of journalists in his chamber in the Sindh Assembly building, he said that of the 10 PML-N legislators from Sindh, three represented Karachi including himself (PS-114), Humayun Khan (PS-89) and Shafi Jamote (PS-129). Besides, he added, Hakim Baloch was returned to parliament as a member of the National Assembly from the metropolis.
He warned that their group would be at liberty to decide their own line of action if the central leadership of the PML-N failed to respond to their grievances and reservations by next Saturday.
Mr Marwat has been upset since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over a meeting last week at the Governor House, where he said the PML-N legislators were ‘ignored’.
The meeting was held to review the ongoing targeted operation against criminals in Karachi.
Mr Marwat said they had been elected from their constituencies on the basis of their own popularity and the party ticket did not have any role in their victory and despite this the party was ignoring them.
The PML-N leader said they were not interested in any ministry or some office.
Replying to a question, he said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had been nominated to sort out the problems, but after three to four meetings with him, the minister gave up explaining that “no one was listening to him”.
Later, Mr Marwat added, Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and the chief minister of Punjab were approached one after another. Despite promises to take up their issues with the prime minister within the next eight to 10 days, none of them returned with any assurance over the past four months, he said.
Mr Marwat, who was a former minister in the Arbab government, added that Minister of State Abdul Hakim Baloch had already resigned from the ministry due to this policy of the party leadership towards the issues concerning Sindh.
He recalled that after the meeting held in the Governor House on Saturday, a PML-N parliamentary party meeting was held at his residence in which it was demanded that the federal government after consultation with the elected members from Sindh would pay special attention to development works in their constituencies and took measures for solving the problems related to employment, health and educational facilities to remove their the sense of deprivation, but even those demands were ignored.
When PPP Parliamentary Party leader Nisar Ahmad Khuhro was asked about the development, he said that if the PPP could have an alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Sindh, there was no harm in holding talks with the PML-N legislators. He said they were free to contribute to development works in Sindh as independent lawmakers or by supporting the government.
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2014
