Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Courtesy PID
Sindh chief minister warns of ‘unprecedented retaliation’ from people of province if federal government imposes governor’s rule
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday said he has advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to impose governor’s rule in Sindh province over its Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government “buying and selling” lawmakers’ votes.
Addressing media after a meeting with the prime minister and senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he described the presence of dissident MNAs at Sindh House as a “conspiracy against democracy.” Claiming that the constituents of the dissident lawmakers would hold them to account, he said the government had no plans to send police into Sindh House to “recover” them.
Claiming that the dissident PTI MNAs had been “lured by money,” he thanked the media for “exposing” them to the public.
The interior minister reiterated that the National Assembly could be called around March 21, just ahead of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit. “After March 25, it will be Sheikh Rashid, the media and Imran Khan’s support. There will be a sea of people on the 27th,” he added, referring to the PTI’s planned rally at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
“No other solution other than imposing governor’s rule in Sindh as PPP’s government is openly violating the Constitution by doing horse-trading,” he posted on Twitter later.
Later, during a press conference with Planning Minister Asad Umar and Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said Rashid had advanced the recommendation in his capacity as an interior minister and an important ally of the government. “He said that what Sindh government has done is a flagrant violation of the Constitution,” he said, adding that the government would deliberate on it before taking any action.
Reacting to the interior minister’s announcement, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah warned the federal government against imposing governor’s rule in his province. “Let me categorically state that any unconstitutional move by the federal government to impose governor’s rule in Sindh will provoke an unprecedented retaliation from the people of Sindh,” he posted on Twitter.