Qaim Ali Shah denies PPP promised the MQM of repealing the local government system.
At a press conference on Friday, Shah said he was still unaware who the next chief minister (CM) in Sindh would be. Recently, PPP leader Manzoor Wasan said that the next CM would be a young and energetic person. “Manzoor Wasan also said that Qaim Ali Shah is young,” he told the reporters. “Believe it or not but I am still young and energetic.”
The former Sindh chief minister and PPP Sindh president, Shah also appealed to the judiciary to refrain from issuing a stay order on the election results. He suggested forwarding all complaints to the tribunals instead.
According to him, election results are being tampered to sink the PPP mandate in Sindh. “After the elections, different orders are being issued to suspend the results and notifications of our candidates,” he pointed out, adding that this exercise is meant to reduce PPP votes in the recounting process.
Shah felt that those who lose the elections always go knocking on the doors of the court. “This is not fair,” he said. “It has created trouble not only for the election commission, but for the formation of the government as well.” Even though the PPP was not given a level playing field during the election campaign, the party won a majority of seats in the province, he added.
“We have serious reservations on the election results but we have accepted these results,” he said, referring to rigging in Punjab and other places. He regretted that the 10-party alliance in Sindh has started a campaign against the PPP mandate in Sindh by accusing the party of massive rigging. “They not only harassed our voters but have started killing and torturing our people.”
Elections in Thar
Despite his earlier request to avoid blaming others, Shah could not help but criticise his opponents. “Opponents of the PPP snatched ballot papers, occupied our political camps and set them on fire on May 11,” he said, referring to the security in Tharparkar.
“We did not see the army or the Rangers guarding these areas. It seemed as if a free hand was given to anti-PPP elements to rig the general elections.”
PPP to woo all
On the formation of a new provincial setup in Sindh, Shah reiterated that they would continue their “reconciliation” policy and try to woo all parties to join the government. “Not just MQM, but we will persuade all old coalition partners, including the PML-N, to join the provincial government.” He did, however, dispel the impression that the PPP has assured the MQM of repealing the incumbent local government system.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2013.
COMMENTS (10)
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Qaim Ali Shah is so old that he knew alexander before he was great
Stupid people always do criticism for the sake of criticism. To me age is just a number.. Below is a small example of how the world works.
Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud King of Saudi Arabia Year of birth: 1924
Girija Prasad Koirala Prime Minister of Nepal Date of birth: Feb. 20, 1925
Abdoulaye Wade President of Senegal Date of birth: May 29, 1926
Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Emir of Kuwait Date of birth: June 6, 1929
Mwai Kibaki President of Kenya Date of birth: Nov. 15, 1931
Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India Date of birth: Sept. 26, 1932
Hes not 85 , hes 80 just to be clear
Hot guy ;)
No more peoples left in sindh i guess why dont they make Kamal Mustafah CM.
He does not look 85, true. Also, he behaves like a 8.5-year old - making statements such as the improvement of the law and order situation in Karachi during his last Chief Ministerial stint.
Actually he is ten years younger than the President and he is right he is not old he is young.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah thinks that he is not 85 years old, but in fact he is 58 years old and still he has two more years to go before his retirement from the Sindh Government job.
After that, the Sindh Government will hire his services for a further period of three years on contract basis.
He was obviously talking in a lighter mood. Don't catch or twist phrases please like media does with Altaf Hussain's and President Zardari's