LARKANA: Qaumi Awa­mi Tehreek (QAT) president Ayaz Latif Palijo has said that Asif Ali Zardari is issuing pro-establishment statements to curry favour with powers that be and save his skin in mega corruption cases.

But his cunning and craftiness would be of no avail to him now because the days of both “king and queen” in power were about to end, said Mr Palijo at a gathering held to mark the first death anniversary of QAT leader advocate Zaffar Lar at Abdul Latif Nizamani labour hall here on Friday.

He said that people would not vote for Pakistan Peoples Party in upcoming general election as the party had sold out Sindh’s resources and played havoc with education, healthcare and agriculture sector of the province.

The condition of Sindh’s children was far worse than Ethiopians and women of the province lagged far behind their African counterparts in terms of health, he said.

He said that had PPP paid the same attention to Benazir Bhutto assassination case that it had extended to Ayyan Ali’s case, the party would have been able to get justice for its slain leader.

Mr Palijo accused PPP ministers of rendering farmland of poor peasants barren by closing tributaries and forcing small growers to suffer huge losses because of low procurement price of cotton, wheat, sugar cane and paddy.

He said the provincial government claimed to have pumped billions of rupees into development schemes but the situation on ground across the province gave the lie to their claims. Almost all roads and drainage system in Larkana city were in a shambles despite official claims of spending of massive funds on development, he said.

He said the implementation of National Action Plan had come to a grinding halt in the province thanks to Sindh’s rulers. Rs700 billion a year were being siphoned off to Dubai, Switzerland, United States and London but it appeared NAB, FIA and other agencies had shut their eyes to rampant corruption in Sindh, he claimed.

He held PPP responsible for all ills afflicting the province and said those who had ruled the province for 10 years now had murdered merit and failed to provide even safe drinking water to population.

“We can reap benefit of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project but rulers lack vision to make it happen,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018