Islamabad: Central Secretary Information of Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Shazia Marri Wednesday, strongly condemned the conduct of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, urging him to focus on improving conditions in his own province.
Addressing a press conference alongside Sehar Kamran and Humayun Khan, she said the Sindh government had hosted him in line with tradition, extending full hospitality, but condemned what she termed his irresponsible conduct.
She reaffirmed that the party will continue to raise its voice for public rights, environmental protection and constitutional supremacy, both inside and outside Parliament.
On the issue of Pakistan International Airlines’ privatisation, she said the national carrier had suffered heavy losses due to an irresponsible statement issued by a minister during the previous PTI government’s tenure.
‘Those responsible should be made accountable for losses,’ she added.
Shazia Marri alleged that Karachi has been the largest city and the only metropolis of the country but it is deprived of gas supply.
‘The constitution says that the gas producing regions should be given priority in consumption,’ Marri said. Natural gas has been unavailable in Karachi, stoves are off in households, she said. ‘A worst loadshedding of gas has been ongoing in this winter’.
She said that several cities of Sindh undergo 20 hours long power outages. ‘If the situation has been so grim in winter, what would happen in the summer,’ she questioned.
She urged Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to take immediate notice of the matter.
Shazia Marri also raised serious concerns over large-scale tree cutting in Islamabad, warning that such actions would worsen the effects of climate change, from which Pakistan is already one of the most affected countries in the world.
She said tree cutting without transparency raises serious concerns and demanded that authorities disclose how many trees have been replanted.
To a question, she said the party was informed about the joint parliamentary session scheduled for the 20th only recently and has still not been formally taken into confidence.
She reiterated that while the PPP is an ally of the government in the interest of democracy, it will not compromise on constitutional principles.
Sehar Kamran said that PPP has always highlighted public issues in Parliament, including concerns over the transparency of PIA’s privatization, the rights of employees and the problems faced by farmers.