The opening of Livestock Expo 2021 on Saturday was marked by a fiery speech by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who dubbed the election for the office of Senate chairperson held the previous day as the “worst in the history of Pakistan.”
“The country will remember the Friday’s election as the worst ever conducted in the country,” he said while speaking to media persons. “The Senate is formed through the votes of the members of provincial assemblies, and we being the MPAs will fight for our votes,” he vowed.
He went on to say, “Yesterday was a sad day for democracy and Pakistan.”
Murad added that it was sad to know that the upper house of parliament was brought under surveillance with the help of hidden cameras during the voting for the election of the Senate chairperson and deputy chairperson.
He deplored that seven votes of former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, the candidate of the opposition alliance-the Pakistan Democratic Movement- for the seat of Senate chairperson, were rejected.
“The rejection of the votes in such a manner is unprecedented,” he said. “It was a conspiracy that was exposed first in the morning [when cameras were found in the Senate] and then again in the evening [when Gilani’s votes were rejected].”
He said the presiding officer, Muzaffar Ali Shah, left everyone appalled everyone by rejecting the votes.
“He read out the script that he was given,” the CM said, adding that the same people who installed “spy cameras” in the Senate had given the script to Muzaffar.
The CM expressed surprise that the presiding officer did not even know that Senate elections could not be challenged before an election tribunal because none existed.
But, he stated, we expect justice from the superior judiciary.
He said Pakistan Peoples Party’s chairperson has decided to challenge the election result in the court and that they were hopeful that justice would be dispensed.
“Gilani had won the election and legally he is the Senate chairperson,” he asserted.
The CM also condemned the allegation of horse trading levelled against opposition parties and accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of being involved in the buying and selling of votes.
“People across the country are witness to how [Senator] Qadir Baloch from Balochistan has been brought to the Senate,” he said, referring to Baloch’s election to the Senate as an independent candidate and his subsequent joining of the PTI, even though the party withdrew its election ticket under the pressure of PTI Balochistan chapter.
The expo
Commenting on the expo, the CM said the livestock department made the event possible that appeared difficult to organise due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He expressed hope that the event would help support the progress of livestock and fisheries sectors.
Sindh Livestock and Fisheries minister Abdul Bari Pitafi said around 2,200 animals, including goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes, camels, horses, fish and birds, were being displayed in the expo.
“Livestock is a part of Sindh’s culture,” he said.
According to him, 43 per cent of the country’s population is associated with agriculture and livestock sectors but sadly, it continues to be a neglected sector.
He contended that the events such as the livestock expo supported livestock breeders as well as the sector’s economy.
These views were echoed by Sindh Culture and Tourism Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah.
Animals from Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have also been brought to the expo, which has been organised on a ground along the Hyderabad Bypass.
This is the second edition of the livestock expo. The first was held in Hyderabad last year.
There were unconfirmed reports that the provincial government had spent around Rs400 million on that expo, but the livestock minister later claimed that only about Rs80 million was spent. The expenditures of the ongoing event have not been disclosed so far.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2021.
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