KARACHI: Days after a spat with Federal Minister for Shipping and Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that he has been elected to the post by the provincial legislature and is therefore not answerable to anyone except the Sindh Assembly, not even to the prime minister.
Murad Ali Shah made these remarks while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility and Dow Institute of Life Sciences at the Ojha campus of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi on Monday.
On this occasion, CM Murad said, “According to the constitution, I am answerable to the Sindh Provincial Assembly and to no one else, not even to the prime minister”.
The chief minister further said that it was his constitutional duty because, “the Sindh Provincial Assembly elected me and I am answerable to them and I will answer them.”
Murad Ali Shah was referring to a spat between himself and Federal Minister for Shipping and Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi in a session of the Karachi Transformation Committee on January 16.
Shah said that he did not think it appropriate to respond to further questions on the matter because it was a “confidential issue”, which was carelessly released to the public. “I cannot be that irresponsible that I talk about a letter which I had written confidentially.”
“We will never bring it to the public, we are a responsible provincial government, and we don’t do such brash actions such as releasing a confidential letter through a tweet,” he added.
“I don’t want to talk much more on this issue, there will be a talk with the prime minister on this issue,” said the chief minister.
Shah said that his government was ready to take Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and Sukkur Electric Power Company(SEPCO) subject to the condition that the federal government would continue its power subsidy for the next five years.
Replying to a question, the chief minister said that the HESCO and SEPCO were power distribution companies running in heavy losses.
“I had written a letter to the prime minister much earlier and had requested him to hand over both the companies to the Sindh government on the condition to continue the subsidy, whatever the federal government was giving to them.
He disclosed that a Chinese government company was in contact with the provincial government to run the HESCO and SEPCO in partnership with the Sindh government.
“I don’t know what decision the federal government has taken about handing overpower distribution companies to his government,” he said.
Talking about the COVID-19 vaccine, Shah said that he has written a letter to the federal government with the request to grant him permission to purchase the vaccine directly from China.
“Being a provincial government I am not authorized to purchase anything directly from another country,” he said. Earlier, the chief minister visited the Institute of Life Saving Sciences and DiagnosticComplex.
The VC Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr Saeed Qureshi in his welcome speech said that he was short of Rs100 million to make the diagnostic facilities completely functional. AT this the chief minister announced to provide him Rs 100 million if he was going to complete the facility by June 30. Saeed Qureshi gave his happy consent among the clapping of the staff and guests present on the occasion.
