KARACHI, Feb 25: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has stated that the opposition is setting a bad precedent by flouting discipline of the assembly which is no service either to the government or the province.

Addressing a press conference in his assembly chamber after Monday's session of the Sindh Assembly, Dr Arbab said: "Although the current session is a requisition session, the opposition appeared to be not in a mood to let the house run its business. They not only wasted their own time, but also of the assembly and the government by insisting that the matter of the minister sacked on corruption charges be taken up."

He declared: "Neither Gen Musharraf's government would allow corruption to persist nor would I, as the chief minister, tolerate anyone resorting to such practices. I will curb the menace even at the cost of my office."

Maintaining that sacking of the minister was an internal matter of the government and the ruling party, he said he had the right to appoint or sack any minister. The matter was not reflective of any crisis which could warrant a propaganda as the opposition wanted to resort to, he added.

He criticized the opposition's move to force the speaker to consider its adjournment motion No.27 out of turn by setting aside the agenda of the requisitioned session.

Reiterating that the removal of a minister had not stirred a crisis, Dr Arbab argued that it was not for the first time that a minister had been removed on certain charges against him, and cited the examples of similar action taken by Mr Liaquat Jatoi and Mohammad Khan Junejo against some of their ministers.

Even Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar had found some ministers indulged in undesired activities and they were either sacked or made to resign, he recalled. "The days are gone when a chief minister could be made to turn a blind eye towards misdeeds of his colleagues and others only for fear of suffering embarrassment."

He welcomed President Musharraf's remarks that sacking any of his ministers was the right of a chief minister, and made it clear again that he had taken the action against the minister after taking solid evidences, proving his involvement in corruption, in custody. He stated that the process of investigation into the charges was under way and after finding linkage, further action would be taken.

Refuting the opposition's claim of a crisis having hit the province due to his action, Dr Arbab wondered how did they see a crisis when all the concerned - President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat - as well as Altaf Hussain, Pir Pagara, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Farooq Leghari, workers and activists endorsed his decision and expressed confidence in him.

The opposition, he alleged, wanted to create some crisis that could propel it to power through a backdoor a deal, and advised it exercise restraint till 2008. While the PPP was in power, its leaders lacked the courage to take action against a corrupt minister, he claimed, adding that it was President Musharraf's government that was setting such a precedent and pursuing accountability while remaining in power.

In this context, he made mention of the arrest of a serving army officer, who had been working with the NAB; sacking of a Supreme Court registrar; and placing of the National Assembly secretary under suspension for his misconduct.

The chief minister said he failed to understand what the opposition wanted. "When action is taken against an opposition figure, the government is accused of 'victimization', and when a government functionary is taken to task for his misdeeds, the opposition terms the ensuing developments a 'crisis'."

Referring to the allegations levelled against him by the sacked minister, Imtiaz Shaikh, in retaliation, Dr Arbab maintained that some of the charges were those which he had faced during the Nawaz Sharif government for opposing the former prime minister's idea of amending article 58 2-B of the constitution.

Describing one of the charges as illogical, he said how was it possible for an owner of the lands at the tail-end to steal water. He pointed out that all of his lands were located in Thar which was a tail-end area.

He said that accusing him of involvement in the killing of a journalist was part of a character assassination bid. The person involved in the murder was a son of a navy officer and had surrendered to the police after committing the crime, he recalled.

The chief minister pointed out that Tharparkar was the only district in the province where crime rate had remained 'zero' and people could keep their valuables in their houses without any fear of theft or dacoity.

He declared that he would step down if a single allegation of corruption against him was proved. When asked whether he intended to take action against any other minister, the chief minister said: "Certainly, if solid proofs are available."