MITHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday to quit his office as soon as possible since a three-judge Supreme Court bench began hearing the Panama Papers case in the light of a damning report prepared by a joint investigation team formed to probe money laundering allegations against the PM and his children.

The CM told reporters here that the ‘noose’ around the PM’s neck was being tightened, as two SC judges had already declared him guilty of being involved in the Panama Papers case and after the JIT report he had no justification to remain in power.

The CM’s plane made an inaugural landing at the under-construction Islamkot airport. He drove straight to Malani House in Mithi where he told the media that he had already directed the authorities concerned to complete the remaining part of the airport so that foreign engineers, especially those from China, engaged in mining and power production could easily travel.

Mr Shah said that it was the demand of his party that an inquiry be initiated after the premier stepped down and a reasonable person might replace him.

Speaking about the Thar coal project, he said it was ‘a beacon of light’ for a prosperous Sindh and Pakistan.

He said that the Sindh government was fully committed to serving the people of Thar, as thousands of Tharis would get jobs in various projects being launched by mining firms in the desert region.

Arbab Lutfullah joins PPP in Faryal Talpur’s presence

Later, speaking at a public gathering at Dodharo farmhouse near Kaloi town of Tharparkar district, he said the decision of Arbab Lutfullah, also known as junior Arbab, to join the PPP was a timely and wise step.

He hopped that Arbab, a close relative of former Sindh chief minister and arch-rival of the PPP Arbab Ghulam Rahim, would continue to serve the people of Thar along with other PPP leaders.

He said the PPP government in Sindh had left no stone unturned to help Tharis in their difficult times.

Mr Shah lashed out at the prime minister for his alleged indifferent attitude towards Sindh and said that the federal government was creating impediments in various provincial subjects.

He said he was determined to foil all such attempts of the federal government through the Sindh governor.

He said that the National Accountability Bureau would not be allowed to extort money from Sindh after the passage of a bill which repealed the applicability of the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 in the province.

Mr Shah said that his late father Abdullah Shah and Arbab Ameer Hassan, the late father of Arbab Lutfullah, were close friends despite following different political ideologies.

He said with the joining of junior Arbab, Thar had become a hub of PPP.

The CM said that the government was fully committed to fulfil all the promises made with the people by PPP leaders.

Speaking on the occasion, PPP leader and MNA Faryal Talpur observed that the PPP under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari was getting stronger and the party would surely form next government both in the province and at the Centre after winning the upcoming general elections.

Welcoming junior Arbab, she said now the Thar region had become a PPP stronghold. “The son of iconic politician late Arbab Ameer Hassan has made the right decision at the right time to join the party of the people,” she added.

She recalled that late Arbab Hassan was the close friend of her late father Hakim Ali Zardari and father-in-law Mir Ali Bux Talpur.

Ms Talpur claimed that the people were joining the PPP as there was no alternative and the people of Sindh had lost their confidence in other parties because of their myopic policies.

She directed the CM to recruit 1,500 lady health workers in Thar to give maximum health facilities to the people.

Ms Talpur said that she was happy with the decision of young Arbab to join the party of the poor and hoped that he would continue to serve the downtrodden people of Thar.

She said she knew he resisted tremendous pressure from his close family members against joining the PPP to keep his word. “I hope he will work hard like a committed activist to serve the area people.”

Ms Talpur said that the PPP leadership would not let such people down.

Speaking on the occasion, Arbab Lutfullah said that he decided to join the PPP to serve the people of Thar, who were not properly served during the past 10 years.

He said that he would leave no stone unturned to serve the people of Thar like his late father.

He disclosed that his family pressured him to not join the PPP, but he did not budge even an inch from his principled stand.

Former CM Qaim Ali Shah, ministers Sohail Anwar Sial, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Imdad Pitafi, party leaders Pir Aftab Shah Jeelani, Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, Syed Pappu Shah, Senator Gayanchand, Haji Sain Bux Jamali, Syed Sardar Ali Shah and others attended the programme and lauded the decision of junior Arbab and his close aides.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2017