No plan to impose governor’s rule in Sindh: Firdous

Says Law Minister Farogh Naseem’s statement was reported out of context

ISLAMABAD : Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said the government has no plan of imposing governor’s rule or emergency in Sindh – in an apparent attempt to quell concern of political parties of the province over federal law minister’s statement that Centre was pondering over taking control of Karachi.

“Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem’s statement has been twisted and reported out of context,” Dr Firdous, special assistant to prime minister on information, said on Thursday while talking to media outside the Parliament House.

Naseem on Wednesday hinted at making the country’s economic hub a separate administrative unit. He had said one option with the federal government was to invoke Article 149(4).

“Through Article 149(4) the Centre can request the provincial government to hand over administrative control of Karachi to the former,” the minister had told The Express Tribune.

PTI govt for promoting ‘ease of doing business’: Firdous

Talking with reference to Karachi, Dr Firdous said the city has been turned into a heap of garbage, adding that during the past 11 years, some elements have misused its resources for personal gains.

“The nation is expecting from the ruling class of Sindh to resolve the issues of the province on priority. People of Sindh in general and Karachi in particular are paying the price of bad performance of the provincial government,” she added.

She said the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) MNAs and MPAs and other opposition parties in Sindh could not help resolve problems of their constituencies due to noncooperation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led provincial government.

She asked the Sindh government to adopt the path of cooperation instead of confrontation and prepare a strategy in consultation with the federal government for the welfare of the people.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan would attend a rally in Muzaffarabad on Friday (today) to express solidarity with besieged Kashmiris. The joint statement of the UN Human Rights Council is continuation of Pakistan's positive efforts on Kashmir issue,” she added.