PSP demands equal seats for provinces in NA

Prime ministers elected with the help of NA seats from Punjab ignore small provinces, says Kamal

HYDERABAD: The Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), which confronted an electoral rout in the general elections 2018, has demanded distribution of equal number of the National Assembly's seats in all the provinces similar to the Senate. The party's Chairperson Syed Mustafa Kamal, who spoke at the PSP's workers convention in Hyderabad on Saturday night, said only Punjab secured majority seats in the NA.

"The prime ministers elected with the help of NA seats from Punjab ignore the small provinces," he contended. "[Prime minister] Imran Khan received the highest number of NA seats from Punjab and made himself confined to that province".



He deplored that the people of Karachi, Hyderabad and the rest of Sindh were suffering because of the conflict between the PTI-led federal government and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). "When Khan was not in power, his claims of introducing radical reforms sounded true. His cabinet ministers used to say that they would bring back $200 billion of Pakistan's money in offshore accounts". But, he added, regrettably not a single dollar has been retrieved so far.

Kamal also reminded the PM of his promise that he would commit suicide if the circumstances compelled him to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. "And now everyone knows that you are going to the IMF with a begging bowl".

The PSP's chairperson criticised the government for allowing the devaluation of rupee against dollar, telling Khan that he used to criticise the past governments whenever there was a slide in the rupee's value. "Khan would always say that a difference of one rupee after devaluation increased the national debt by Rs100 billion". Now, said Kamal, the rupee has devalued by over Rs30 against the dollar, the increase in the net amount of loans should have hiked by thousands of billions of rupees.

He also slammed the Finance Minister Asad Umar for badly failing to control inflation. Kamal said Umar was well aware that he would become the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government's finance minister if the party came to the power, but still he did not come prepared to manage the economy. "A million people will become redundant in the next six months according to a financial report," he lamented, reminding Khan that he had promised to create 10 million new jobs.

Kamal said that although the PTI secured a historic victory from Karachi in the elections last year, the party has ditched the city and its people. "The people of Karachi and the rest of Sindh suffer six or more hours of load shedding per day even during the winter season". He criticised the power distribution companies for exploiting the consumers because the federal government has left them in the lurch.

"The garbage heaps have become the new identity of Karachi and Hyderabad," he bemoaned. Kamal said that the federal government has time and again promised to establish a university in Hyderabad but so far the Centre could not even open a college in the city.

"We had hopes from the PTI. But now the situation makes us demand that like the senate, the National Assembly's constituencies should also be equally divided among the provinces so that no government can afford to ignore a province or its people".

The PSP's leader also criticised Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for failing to deliver in Karachi and Hyderabad, considering the party had come to power several times in the last three decades. Referring to Sindhis, he said the PSP wanted to regard them as the Ansar of Madina who welcomed the migrants from Mecca accompanying the Holy Prophet (PBUH). "We are grateful to Sindhis who embraced the people who migrated from India after the partition".



Kamal deplored that the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was reluctant to transfer the power to the local government, though he has been fighting the case for authority of the provincial government. "Khan had also promised that he will initiate the decentralisation of the powers to the lowest level. But they have been in the government for eight months and not even a draft for decentralisation has been prepared".

The PSP's President Anis Qaimkhani said that the people of Karachi and Hyderabad will follow Kamal in the struggle for their rights. The party's leaders also cut a cake to mark PSP's third founding anniversary.