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KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri has accused the Sharif brothers of indulging in ‘politics of ethnicity and opportunism’.
She also criticised Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for keeping 17 portfolios with him and said that it manifested his autocratic mindset.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, she said that over 100 deaths had been reported from the use of substandard medicines in Punjab, which called for action against incompetence of the Punjab health department.
She said that the desperate Punjab CM in a bid to cover up his incompetence and corruption adopted a prejudiced approach by mentioning only the name of a Karachi-based pharmaceutical firm and ignoring others responsible for fake medicines.
Ms Marri said that the action was initiated against the pharma firms on Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s directives when the Federal Investigation Agency collected samples from six pharmaceutical companies.
The minister said that the reports of three pharma firms were yet to come and Shahbaz Sharif should show patience until the results of other firms were available. “Where was Shahbaz Sharif when people were dying from the use of spurious medicines? What were his drugs inspectors and laboratories waiting for and at the time of filing tenders what action was taken by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and drugs inspectors?”
The Sindh minister said that Karachi generated around 70 per cent of the country’s revenue and like other parts of the country industries were also operating in Karachi but taking the name of a Karachi-based industry only reflected the typical mindset of the Sharif brothers.
