The Sindh Chief Minister’s Advisor for Law Murtaza Wahab has expressed hope that the next mayors of Karachi and Hyderabad would belong to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Addressing the lawyers after inaugurating Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Digital Library at Sindh High Court Bar Association’s premises in Hyderabad on Friday, he reiterated that the PPP had already secured victory in the recent local government elections. “The LG election is a closed and past transaction now. We are only waiting for the decisions of the tribunals after which Jiyalas will be elected as mayors of Hyderabad and Karachi,” he said with conviction.
“I feel pleased to tell you that the PPP’s Sindh government became the first government which gave Rs 110 million to the Sindh Bar Council so that all lawyers of Sindh including their families can be provided health insurance,” Wahab said. According to him, the members of the Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF) fought the case for that grant. He added that for the first time in Sindh, all the district bars as well as the chapters of SBC and SHCBA were given funds by the PPP’s Sindh government.
The Advisor assured that the provincial government would provide funds to the SBC for the yearly renewal of health insurance. Likewise, he added, all district bars would also be given funds on a yearly basis. He recalled that the PPP’s government provided funds for the construction of the SHCBA’s office in Hyderabad. He added that the incumbent government in the province also provided land for the lawyers’ housing society in Hyderabad.
The Advisor justified the recent hike in petroleum prices, arguing that subsidy or waiver of the taxes only benefited the rich class. He contended that the vehicles of rich people consume 50 to 60 liters of petrol or diesel a month in comparison to the poor people using just a couple of liters in their motorbikes. “In the past, the subsidies and relief were given only to the rich class,” he asserted. Wahab said he felt the inflation caused pain being suffered by the ordinary people.
However, he blamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government for paving the way for the prevailing terrible economic conditions. He said if the government at present moment tried to provide relief to the people it would face a high chance of default. He explained that if the government defaulted, the economic situation would become far worse than what the people were dealing with presently. On the occasion, the PPP Hyderabad’s President Sagheer Qureshi and Additional Advocate General Sindh Allah Bachayo Soomro were present.
