Sindh Assembly session on Wednesday was short-lived, as it could not survive the onslaught of the Treasury benches and the over-excitement of opposition members who wanted to dictate their terms in conducting the proceedings.
Speaker Muzaffar Hussein Shah, finding it difficult to proceed, as the members did not pay heed to calls for decency, prorogued the session. The session had been requisitioned by the opposition. Later, at a press conference, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim accused People's Party of indulging in politics of "non issues", and defeating all occasions of legislation.
He said that Benazir Bhutto remained in power in 1997 and 1988 but she neither could ask her party men present a resolution condemning Bhutto's hanging on April 4 nor could open the Bhutto 'murder case'. He said that Benazir always used to call courts and other judicial institutions as 'kangaroo courts' and showed her mistrust in them, whereas it was all of a sudden that she had come out in support of the same courts.
He said that her dual personality would not take her anywhere. Rahim said that the Opposition was disunited, and fragmented. There was no unity among them, he added, and said that it was only on Tuesday that PPP, PML (N) and MMA took out processions but these were isolated, as members of one party did not participate in the procession of the other party. "All of them took 'solo flight'. Since, BB prefers to label herself as secular, therefore she did not participate in MMA's procession."
He said that the opposition was trying to politicise a constitutional issue. "But people are not with them," he added. The chief minister said that PPP presented a resolution to offer prayers for Bhutto whereas they should have been in Larkana to observe his death anniversary. "Nisar Khuhro is the same person who had distributed sweets on the hanging of Bhutto," he said.
Rahim said that PPP had flopped, and PML (Q) had proved itself as a successful party in Larkana. "The other day, we had a successful public meeting in Larkana, whereas PPP could not gather people to stage even a small show."
The chief minister recounted the 'deeds' of the PPP, which had brought misfortune to the people of Pakistan, and said that it had pursued a policy of repression and suppression. He said that PPP kept G M Syed in detention till his death, and Mohammed Ali Hingoro in jail, whereas the present government, showing magnanimity of heart, had permitted Abdullah Shah, former chief minister of Sindh, to come back to Pakistan.
He said though he had earlier said that Abdullah Shah had asked for pardon on which his son Murad Ali Shah had reacted in anger. "What he says no?" the chief minister asked.
The chief minister said that PPP was in the habit of politicking on the dead, whereas he believed on politicking on people's issues. On a question he said, "Elections are only eight months away. We should test our nerves and popularity in the field."