MITHI: Leaders of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, speaking at their joint public meeting here on Friday evening predicted that now when Nawaz Sharif stood convicted and sent behind bars, it was Asif Ali Zardari’s turn to follow suit.

The leaders, including former chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Arbab Zakaullah, Dr Zulfikar Mirza and Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, urged people not to vote for candidates of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) or Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as both stood tested and failed.

They said voters must this time choose honest and upright people for a bright future of the Tharparkar region and its population, which had been ruined by the Sindh government over the past decade.

After [PML-N founder] Nawaz Sharif, it was the turn of [PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari and his cronies to face the same fate for their massive corruption and misrule, said Arbab Rahim.

“PPP leaders only looted the public wealth in Thar and left its people to die without getting any healthcare assistance,” he said. After coming to power, GDA would get back all the public wealth from the plunderers and spend it on the welfare and well-being of the masses.

He claimed that Zardari repeatedly offered him to join the PPP but he declined because he [Arbab] could not compromise on principles. He pledged to resume all development schemes he had initiated during his tenure as the chief minister from where the work had been stopped 10 years ago.

Dr Zulfikar Mirza told the audience that people of Thar had been given the chance to get rid of “corrupt PPP leaders by rejecting them in the election and hold them accountable for their decade-long misrule”.

He alleged that the PPP leaders instead of focusing on provision of life-saving drugs, water, education and other basic facilities to the people, ridiculed them and minted billions of rupees in the name of relief assistance for drought-hit Tharis.

PTI leader Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that Thar would help bring about a change in the country only when it would elect upright persons like Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Arbab Rahim and other sincere leaders.

Arbab Zakaullah, Arbab Anwar Jabbar, Khan Sahib Togachi, Abdul Razzak Rahimoon and other GDA and PTI leaders also spoke.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2018