ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: Minister for Privatisation Ghous Bux Khan Mahar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q was shown the door on Friday by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for reasons not announced.

The minister, however, said he himself had resigned from the ministry on Oct 31 in protest against the controversial Sindh’s local government act of 2012.

Prime Minister’s press secretary Shafqat Jalil said: “I can only confirm that Mr Mahar has been sacked by the prime minister, but cannot comment on the reason.”

“The press section has only been told to confirm privatisation minister’s sacking by the prime minister and that’s it,” said Mr Jalil.

Mr Mahar said he had submitted his resignation to his party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Oct 31. He was offended by the PM secretariat’s statement that he had been sacked.

“If the prime minister has sacked me who is stopping him from giving the reason because nobody is fired from the job without any excuse. I really don’t know what made the PM to say that he has sacked me,” he said.

Mr Mahar said he and his son MPA Shaheryar Mahar had decided to quit the government after the PPP and MQM passed the local bodies law.

Shaheryar had earlier resigned from the Sindh cabinet.

He said for genuine Sindhis the LB law was tantamount to bifurcating the province.

“The PPP and MQM have practically divided the province between their urban and rural areas with the passage of the local government ordinance,” Mr Mahar said. “And for us it’s a very serious issue”.

He said he was supposed to submit his resignation to the party chief under the party discipline.

“I think the PM is forgetting that as part of the agreement between the PPP and PML-Q, no decision about our ministries will be taken without informing Chaudhry Shujaat,” he said.

PML-Q spokesperson Senator Kamil Ali Agha said he was unaware of the development.

Therefore, he said, he was not in a position to say what had led to Mr Mahar’s removal.