Sharjeel accuses Punjab govt of using PPP’s name to undermine Centre
KARACHI: Senior Sindh Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has accused the Punjab government of conspiring against the federal government while pretending to act under the cover of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi on Sunday, the minister said the Punjab authorities were “settling their own political scores with the prime minister” by exploiting the PPP’s name and stance, further widening the rift between the PML-N and PPP at the federal level.
Memon’s PPP and the PML-N, who are coalition partners in the Centre, have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks, whose party is also leading the federal government.
As the row continues between the two sides, Memon alleged while addressing a press conference in Karachi that on the face of it, the Punjab government was “indirectly targeting” the PPP, but their “actual target is the federal government”.
“They are taking our cover to settle their own issues with the prime minister or the federal government. Or they are trying to create an environment to [compel] us not to support the federal government, which would create problems for the federal government,” he claimed.
Clarifying that the PPP was supporting the federal government on specific issues and to keep the country’s “political system running”, he asserted that the circumstances that the Punjab government tried to create spoke of their intentions of creating a rift between the allies in the Centre.
“But we will not let this conspiracy of the Punjab government against the federal government succeed,” Memon asserted.
“I do not know why they have these jealousy factors,” he quipped, highlighting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief’s recent “successful” visits to Saudi Arabia and the United States. “A person thinks that ‘maybe this should have come in my share, why is it going to the prime minister’.”
The PPP leader further said that while the chief ministers of Sindh and Balochistan usually receive the premier whenever he visits the provinces, “his own Punjab administration neither receives him nor gives him any protocol”.
“If you have any issues with the prime minister, please keep them among yourselves. Do not bring the PPP into it,” Memon said.
Regardless, the Sindh minister said, the focus at the moment should be on providing relief to the flood-hit people. “Even if you had blacked out the news from some places, but if you look on the ground […] especially in southern Punjab, the condition of the people is very bad.” Staff Report
