Tit-for-tat: Sindh CM threatens march on Lahore
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will give a tit-for-tat response to a ‘long march’ threat from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Speaking at a hurriedly-called news conference at the Chief Minister House late Friday evening, Shah warned that if the PML-N led a long march to Islamabad, the PPP would march on Lahore. “In case of any eventuality, the PML-N will be held responsible,” he added.
He warned PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to act pragmatically and stop issuing threats to the PPP-led government. He said that the apex court has handed down an interim order. Constitutionally, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani could not be unseated on the basis of an interim order, he said.
Chief Minister Shah reminded Nawaz that he was signatory to the Charter of Democracy which states that any political party which comes to power will be allowed to complete its five-year constitutional term.
Attendees at the emergency news conference included provincial cabinet ministers and PPP leaders Shazia Marri, Ayaz Soomro, Agha Siraj Durrani and Mir Nadir Magsi.
The chief minister said that the PPP is a democratic party and its leaders have rendered unmatched sacrifices for democracy in the country. “We will not let sacrifices of our leaders to go to waste,” he added.
“Yousaf Raza Gilani has the mandate of 180 million people and constitutionally he is still the prime minister of the country,” Shah said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2012.
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