Blame PM, not us, for targeted operations: PPP

Ammar Shahbazi Sunday, September 15, 2013 From Print Edition News Karachi In a bid to duck out of the way of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s barrage of allegations, the Pakistan People’s Party has shifted the onus by saying that the ongoing targeted operations against criminals in Karachi were authorised by the prime minister, not the Sindh government. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to Karachi, and took all the stakeholders on board before launching the targeted operations,” said Qamruz Zaman Kaira, the information secretary of the PPP, at a press conference held at the Bilawal House on Saturday. “A committee was formed to oversee the progress of the operations with the Sindh chief minister as its head,” he added. Kaira said operations were also conducted in the PPP and the Awami National Party strongholds in the city, not just a single political party’s dominated areas. “If somebody has any reservations about the state of affairs, they should go to the courts or refer it to the committee, which has other members apart from the chief minister.” The PPP leader said given the complicated dynamics of the city, the law enforcement agencies might resort to some degree of highhandedness, which was understandable, but they should be sincere in their intentions. “There could be mistakes in their [the law enforcement agencies’] approach, but nobody would be allowed to make ‘mistakes’ on purpose.” Criticising the federal government’s unilateral decision to privatise the Pakistan International Airlines, Kaira said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was conspiring to roll back the 18th Constitutional Amendment. “Since coming into power, the PML-N has taken loans worth Rs13 billion and also decided to privatise state corporations without bothering to consult with the smaller provinces that will equally bear the implications of the decisions.” The PPP information secretary said the matter of the national flag carrier’s privatisation should have been brought to the Council of Common Interests. “This is a new Pakistan where the federation is a sum of the provinces and not the other way around. The PML-N has to understand that.” Speaking about the energy crisis, the PPP leader alleged that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had given many deadlines to fix the problem, but later retracted the statements saying that the deadlines were slip-ups made during the campaign speeches. “It was an outright fraud. The PML-N deceived the masses to win the elections.” Kaira said the PPP would stand by the government despite facing the blame of being a friendly opposition. “As long as the PML-N takes bold initiatives in the fight against terrorism and other macro issues, the PPP will support the government. However, we will do our best to resist any attempt to infringe the hard-won rights of the smaller provinces that are now enshrined in the law.”