KARACHI, Jan 31 (APP): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has emerged as the single largest party in the local bodies’ elections, therefore it has the right to have its mayor.
“Had the MQM not boycotted the [local govt] elections our opponents would not have taken such a number of seats and this they know very well”, he said while talking to the media after presiding over the convocation of the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) at Hindu Gymkhana here on Tuesday.
To a question, the CM said that had there been some compulsions that’s why the Sindh government wanted to delay the election, otherwise PPP would have taken many more seats than it has taken. “We requested MQM to avoid boycotting the election, but their party decided to do so, as a result their votes went in their (JI) share, otherwise they were not in a position even to take such a number of seats”.
Murad Ali Shah said that in the history of the city, the PPP appointed its Administrator Murtaza Wahab for the first time and what he had delivered is not a secret to any Karachiites. “Our party has the history of serving this city and its people and In sha Allah we [PPP] will serve them as chief minister and mayor,” he said.
Talking about the rehabilitation of flood-affected people, the CM said that he has convened a post-Geneva Conference on January 8 in which the donor agencies would be given projects for the financial support they had pledged at Geneva.
He added that the donors would be requested to execute the projects for their organizations or their vendors. “Everything must be transparent,” he said.
The CM Sindh said that over 2 million houses, katcha and Pacca, have been damaged. “We have conducted their survey which was a gigantic task and now just after the conference, we would start distributing money through well-reputed NGOs which have been made partners for the housing project.
Replying to another question, Syed Murad Ali Shah said that around 20,000 school buildings have been damaged by the heavy rains and floods. “In such dangerous buildings students could not be allowed to take classes,” he said and went on saying therefore, we have decided to house such schools in tents so that the education process of the children must continue.
Regarding a question about Safe City, the CM said only the installation of cameras was not enough, but we have to strengthen our police with the latest equipment and gadgets.
He said that PPP was the worst victim of terrorism “We all, as a nation, have to defeat them [terrorism] with our vision, unity, policies and with our patriotism,” he said and added they were the enemies of our country and religion, otherwise they wouldn’t have exploded in the mosques and killed our brothers.
Earlier, speaking at the Convocation Ceremony of NAPA the CM lauded the efforts of Zia Mohiuddin and his team for successfully running the Performing Art institution under the name of NAPA. “Sindh is the land of Sufis who believed in co-existence, plural society and interfaith harmony,” he said and added music, art and culture were the best tools to promote peace and tranquility in the plural society.
Sindh Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Shah tracing the history said that the Muslim Rulers in India ruled for centuries arts, music and crafts and brought people of different faiths into their fold.
Sardar Shah said that if respect, obedience and love could not be snatched at gunpoint but it is the culture and the music that connected people of different faiths and nationalities.
At the conclusion of the programme, the CM distributed degrees among the successful graduates of NAPA and congratulated them on their graduation.
He also condemned the Peshawar blast and said “we have to identify such enemies of humanity and have to ward them off from our ranks,” he concluded.
