KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the provincial authorities will adopt the constitutional and legal process if the continued ‘violation of provincial autonomy’ by the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau is not stopped immediately.

He said this matter had been taken up with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a recent meeting of the federal apex committee, but so far the reservations were not addressed. “If NAB and FIA actions in Sindh are not stopped, we will adopt the constitutional and legal process,” he said.

The chief minister was responding to the questions of journalists after welcoming former minister Syed Pappu Shah and his wife ex-senator Yasmin Shah into the Pakistan Peoples Party fold at their residence in Defence.

Asked why some provincial ministers had started hurling threats at the federal government, the chief minister said it was their reaction due to the overstepping by the federal authorities over the rights of Sindh. He said the federal government had failed to address grievances of the Sindh government despite the fact that he had raised the issues at the recent session of the federal apex committee in Islamabad.

The chief minister said the federal authorities were not not justified in creating the impression that corruption was rampant in Sindh only. There should have been indiscriminate action against corruption across the country, he said.

Also, he said, investigation of corruption cases was the responsibility of the provincial anti-corruption department. “Whether it is matter of mismanagement or corruption, we ourselves would take action,” he said.

In reply to another question, the chief minister said the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government had set up its own accountability institution, as the province did not accept the supremacy of the federal accountability institutions.

The chief minister asked the federal government as to why NAB and the FIA had become active in Sindh only. The provincial ministers had issued the statement only after the issue had crossed all limits without the prime minister taking its notice, he said, adding that prime minister ought to resolve it.

Earlier the chief minister, who is also PPP Sindh chapter president, welcomed Pappu Shah and said the joining of senior political leaders augured well for the party.

Asked if Mr Shah was brought into the PPP fold to face Dr Zulfikar Mirza, the chief minister said PPP was not restricted to Badin district only rather it was a party of the masses with its roots across the country. Dr Mirza had gone to an extreme and as such no talks could be held with him, the chief minister said, making it clear that his wife Fehmida Mirza and their son Hasnain Mirza were elected on the PPP ticket and were still members of the party.

PPP’s women wing chief Faryal Talpur said initiating action against corruption and other matters was the responsibility of the chief minister who was empowered to take action and also respond to the reservations of the people of Sindh. She said the masses would like to know why there was a hue and cry about corruption in their province and what secret affairs were behind all this. “There’s increasing unrest among people due to federal intervention in the provincial matters. The PPP is the party of the masses and capable of thwarting every conspiracy,” she added.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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