KARACHI: In a clear indication he has yet to come to terms with the unexpected end to the PML-N’s government in Balochistan, ousted prime minister and party president Nawaz Sharif on Thursday lamented the way change came to the province.

Early last month, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, the then chief minister of Balochistan from the ruling PML-N, found himself isolated as party MPAs switched sides to support a no-trust motion against him. When he saw that even Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had failed to win back support of the party members, he stepped down instead of facing the motion in the house the day it was to be put to vote. Mir Quddus Bizenjo was elected new CM.

The change, however, fuelled speculation that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari had played a behind-the-scenes role to make this happen, apparently to get his party more senators elected with the support of Balochistan lawmakers. The Senate polls are due next month.

Ex-PM asks Centre to expedite work on Green Line Bus project in Karachi

Mr Sharif, while addressing businessmen at a hotel in Kara­chi, mentioned the change of government in Balochistan and Mr Zardari’s possible role in it.

He said it was strange that those who had changed their loyalties in Balochistan to bring in a new chief minister came to Karachi to enjoy a feast with Mr Zardari.

Both Mr Zardari and the Balochistan legislators have rejected the claim the PPP leader had played any role in the change of the government.

Besides, the ousted PM talked about the Karachi operation, development projects being completed in Karachi with the help of the federal government and the mass-contact drive that the PML-N’s plans to carry out in Sindh before the general elections.

Mr Sharif said the government of Sindh, the political leadership and elite of the city had all been taken on board for carrying out the Karachi operation to restore peace to the strife-torn metropolis.

In an oblique criticism of the judiciary, the PML-N chief said that those who staged sit-ins and used abusive language against their opponents were declared Sadiq and Ameen. He recalled that before the PML came to power in 2013, investors were not prepared to come to Karachi, but now the country has progressed and its economy has been strengthened during the PML-N’s rule of four and half years.

Speaking during his visit to the Green Line Bus project earlier, the ex-PM asked the federal government to expedite pace of work on it. He asked the people of Sindh to realise importance of their vote.

The PML-N chief presided over a party meeting attended by federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal and Khwaja Saad Rafique, Senator Pervez Rashid and members of the party’s Sindh chapter executive committee and activists and discussed Senate elections and other affairs.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2018