PPP has other options if PM does not resolve Rangers' powers issue, says Khuhro

PPP leader's statement comes shortly after PM invited Sindh CM to Islamabad to resolve the issue

KARACHI: Senior Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Nisar Khuhro said on Monday the party has other options if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif does not diffuse the tussle between the federal and Sindh governments over the issue of policing powers granted to Rangers.

“We have other options which we will consider if PM Nawaz remains unable to resolve the issue,” the provincial minister said while addressing a press conference in Larkana.



Khuhro’s statement came hours after sources said PM Nawaz asked Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to visit the federal capital to discuss the feud over Rangers powers. Earlier, it was reported that the premier would diffuse the prolonged tussle between the federal and Sindh governments during his daylong visit to Karachi. However, sources in the Sindh CM House said the premier asked Shah to visit Islamabad to discuss the issue in the presence of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar.

Further, the PPP leader accused Nisar of creating differences between the federal and provincial governments. "By bypassing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Nisar is actually creating a fight between the federation and the provinces,” he added.

The minister also accused the interior minister of achieving his personal gains by issuing a notification extending Rangers’ powers in the metropolis.



"We did not resort to any unconstitutional act by passing a resolution in Sindh Assembly against unconditional powers for the paramilitary force," he said adding that National Action Plan should now be called 'Nawaz League Action Plan'.

Rejecting a notion that a forward block was in the making in province, said anyone planning to bring a no-confidence resolution in the assembly against the speaker will not succeed.