Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Saturday said that the incumbent government had to face embarrassment within a week and had to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while on the other hand nation was on the roads to fight what he called the real battle of independence.
Addressing a press conference along with former spokesperson of Finance Ministry Muzamil Aslam at Sindh Assembly building, Haleem said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was setting new records every day as a public gathering was arranged in a city and nation responded to it by holding gatherings across the country.
“Now it is not a movement of PTI but it has become a peoples’ revolution, and the entire nation is demanding fresh polls, but the alliance of 12 parties was afraid of elections because the case is now in the court of people who have to decide the fate of the country,” he said.
Discussing the ‘Lettergate’ scandal, he said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party were questioning the letter but the handout issued after the meeting of the National Security Committee had proven foreign intervention and the stance of PTI as factual.
Haleem demanded a judicial commission headed by a judge of the Supreme Court to probe into the ‘Lettergate’ in presence of the media while keeping its proceedings open. He said that former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other officials should also be called for recording their statements on the issue.
The PTI leader also criticised the federal government saying that PPP and PML-N made mansions during their tenures while the expenditure of Imran Khan’s US tour was less than the expenses of the limousine used by Nawaz Sharif.
Haleem said that Hammad Azhar inked an agreement for the provision of 2000MW electricity to Karachi to facilitate industries and business while the federal government after taking charge cut down an additional supply of 300 MW to the metropolis and now the people of Karachi were facing hardships due to load-shedding and scarcity of water in the month of Ramazan.
He lamented MQM-P for not raising a voice against injustice towards the people of Karachi and said that PTI will stage a protest against power load-shedding in the biggest city of Pakistan.
Haleem strongly condemned the Dadu fire incident in which nine people – including children – were burnt to death while affected communities were not provided with any relief. He said that fire brigades were unavailable and no rescue and relief activities were taken so far while some relief items sent were looted by Jiyalas.
Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Murad Shah was urging the corporate sector to come forward for the provision of facilities to markets but he forgot that Karachi contributed 90 percent of the revenue of Sindh while over 70 percent of tax collection was made by the city, he said. If everything was supposed to be done by traders then what was the role of government and the CM, he asked.
Referring to the Nazim Jokhio murder case, Haleem termed it a grave violation of human rights and said that heinous torture was done on Nazim Jokhio and now his widow and relatives were pressurized and coerced to withdraw the case.
Haleem said, “These people have come back to plunder the country again but a revolutionary movement has started in the country and what is going to happen is something that no one would have thought earlier and the nation will get rid of all these thieves soon.”
While undermining the judgment of the Supreme Court, the Sindh government had announced to conduct local government elections in haste so that they could secure some seats, Haleem said, adding that the prevailing act violated Article 140-A of the constitution.
