KARACHI/SHIKARPUR, Nov 27: Recently removed federal minister Ghous Bux Khan Mahar said on Tuesday that he would support the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional on issues of Sindh but would not part ways with his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid.

Speaking to a group of newsmen at his Karachi residence and later at the Mahar House, Wazirabad, he said that he had resigned as the provincial president of the PML-Q because he had developed differences with the central leadership of the party over the issue of the Sindh People’s Local Government Act, 2012.

He said that the PML-Q leadership also put pressure on him to ask his son, Shahryar Mahar, to withdraw his resignation as a provincial minister.

In response to a question, he said that despite being part of the PML-Q, he was now part of the ongoing struggle against the new local government system in Sindh.

Announcing his full support for the strike call given by Pir Pagara for Nov 30 in Sindh, he said that the new system would harm the solidarity of Sindh and being a son of the soil, he would participate in the ongoing protest being launched under the aegis of the PML-F till the new local government law was repealed.

However, he said that he was not parting ways with the PML-Q and did not want to join any other party.

Replying to a question about the participation of his party in the next general elections, he said that the PML-Q was not interested in contesting elections from Sindh. However, he expressed his desire to contest for a national assembly seat if the people of his constituency allowed it.

About his sacking as the federal privatisation minister, he clarified that he had resigned from the ministry on Oct 31 in protest against the new local government law.

He said a conspiracy was being hatched to erode whatever popularity the PML-Q had in Sindh by ignoring the pressing issues in the province.

He said as far as Sindh issues were concerned he had decided to side with the PML-F.

In reply to another question, Mr Mahar said that he had no differences with President Asif Ali Zardari, but with the provincial leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party.

He advised the Sindh local government minister Agha Siraj Durani to stop maligning political opponents and blaming them for siding with dictatorial government considering that the same blame could be laid at the door of Mr Durrani’s father.

He said that the PPP leadership wanted to rule without an opposition party so that it could meet its vested political interests.

This was why the PPP had formed a coalition government so that it could claim to have agreed upon with all the other parties when it took a decision. Such a way of running the government affairs was undemocratic, he claimed.