LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh government obtained more foreign loans than even federal government during its longest uninterrupted reign of 15 years in the province, said Grand Democratic Alliance leader and former MPA Moazzim Abbasi on Monday.

He told a press conference at the Larkana Press Club that the process for accountability and delimitations should go ahead parallel to each other.

He said that Election Commission of Pakistan had convened a meeting of political parties on Aug 29 to discuss elections but he did not see polls till Dec 14.

He said that since 50 per cent of Senators would retire in September “we must correct the system first and go for accountability”.

Moazzim wants accountability and delimitation to be undertaken simultaneously

The PPP itself had agreed upon holding of general elections after accountability at the recent meeting of Council of Common Interests and now the party was backing out of its commitment and demanding elections within 90 days, which was its double-faced policy, he said.

Referring to the orders of Supreme Court about holding of elections within 90 days in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Abbasi said that at that time the PPP and PML-N had taken the stand that conditions were not favorable for holding elections.

He said in a lighter vein the conditions were still not favorable for election, therefore, both the parties should exercise patience. Apparently, they had been partners in crime over the last 16 months in Pakistan Democratic Movement government, he said.

He said that appointment of new Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police in Sindh had created a wave of unrest in PPP.

He advised the officers, who had in past tilted towards ruling PPP, to be impartial now, otherwise “we will protest, go to the ECP and convey to caretakers about your performance”.

Abbasi said that PPP had turned politics into a business. There had been massive corruption in job orders given away by PPP before end of tenure but now the party leaders were contemplating to protest as a face-saving exercise which was just eyewash, he said, adding they had minted money in the name of job orders.

He said the GDA would hold a protest demonstration outside Larkana Press Club on Aug 29 to unmask the PPP’s duplicity. A committee was constituted to redress the problems of those who had paid huge bribe to get jobs, he said.

He said that almost all departments were plagued with corruption but the department of food excelled in the loot and left all others behind. Unchecked smuggling of wheat from Sindh increased flour price beyond the reach of the poor, he said.

He believed that a strong opposition alliance would lead the country to prosperity and progress.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023