Ashraf directs Sindh govt to start targeted operations

Prime minister asks PPP leaders to pacify people protesting local govt system.

KARACHI:

Taking notice of the worsening law and order situation in Karachi and Hyderabad, the prime minister has directed the provincial government to start targeted operations against the suspects involved.

Premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also asked the local leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to pacify the enraged people protesting against “Sindh Peoples Local Government System 2012” by making amendments to it.

He gave out the directives on Tuesday during a meeting at the Governor House where Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Acting Governor Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, provincial ministers, MPAs and MNAs of the ruling party were also present.

Premier Ashraf had flown to Karachi to inaugurate IDEAs 12 and was briefed about the recent killing spree and sectarian strife in the region.

Sindh Chief Minister Shah – who also holds the portfolio of the home department – briefed him regarding the looming threats in the month of Muharram as well as the Sindh government’s preparation for the upcoming Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting scheduled for November 8.

The Sindh government has prepared a strong case for the CCI meeting and plans to discuss land it has allotted to the railways. It will put up a case seeking complete provincial autonomy following the 18th amendment.

Talking to The Express Tribune Inter Provincial Coordination Department Secretary Kaleem Lashari said that the Sindh government has grievances over devolution plans, which would be shared in the CCI meeting.

He said, “The education department has been devolved to the provincial government, but other institutions imparting professional and technical training are retained by the federal government. The same thing prevails in health and other sectors too.”

Quoting the prime minister, officials said that during the meeting Ashraf asked the chief minister to take up all issues including the functioning of Nepra and Thar coal at the CCI meeting.

“Among other issues, PPP leaders shared with the prime minister the allegations levelled by their party MNA Zafar Ali Shah against President Asif Ali Zardari on not allotting an MPA seat to his nephew,” a senior party leader said, adding the prime minister also discussed with senior PPP leaders possible changes in the local government system.

According to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, the chief minister and Khuhro briefed Ashraf about by-polls in Naushahro Feroze and the current political situation of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.

Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly mentioned November 18 as the date for the CCI meeting that will be held in Islamabad. The meeting will take place on November 8.