President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday asked members of Sindh Assembly to encourage women, minorities and other communities to take part in the forthcoming local bodies elections in the province. He said this while talking to delegations of PPP MPAs of Sindh Assembly on the second day of his district wise meetings with them.
The delegations of MPAs that called on the President in Bilawal House belonged to Nowshero Feroz, Mirpur Khas, Tharpakar, Umarkot, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Thatta, Dadu and Jamshoro districts. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Pir Mazharul Haq, Agha Siraj Durrani, Dr Zulfikar Mirza, Sindh Information Advisor Jameel Soomro, Secretary General to President Salman Farooqui, Chief Secretary Sindh Fazlur Reham and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.
Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar told newsmen the President said that the empowerment of womenfolk is the priority of the government and they should contest local bodies elections. He said minorities have to be taken along as laid down in party manifesto and the ideology of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
Their rights have to be protected and they should be provided support. President Zardari said that the government was pursuing the policy of reconciliation and, therefore, it respects the people's mandate given to other parties in the country. He said that the government had succeeded in improving the economy by taking difficult political decisions for macro- economic stability on one hand and fighting militancy to restore law and order on the other and called upon the PPP parliamentarians of Sindh Assembly to play their role for the benefit the people of their constituencies.
The President said that security and restoration of law and order was critical for any investment and development initiatives and the government was determined to restore peace and promote investment and development. The success of the policy was evident from the fact the militants had been driven out from Swat and Malakand and contained in South Waziristan Agency, he said.
He said that economic development projects have been undertaken on a large scale in the Sindh province and asked the members of the Assembly to play a pro-active role identifying and implementing development projects. The President advised the members of the provincial assembly to prepare themselves for the forthcoming local bodies polls and serve the masses through elected bodies elected at the grass roots level.
He said that the government had adopted other measures such as devising a new fuel policy based on bio-diesel, optimising utilisation of scarce water resources, reliance on public private partnership and trade instead of aid as engines of economic and industrial growth.
The President said that the government was seeking greater access to international markets for Pakistan made products to boost industrial production in the country and thereby create additional jobs. He expressed the hope that the concept of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) would soon be translated into reality to drive the industrial engine in the country.
He said that as a result of militancy and the fight in the region against rival ideology by the international community Pakistan had become a security driven state neglecting social and human uplift. The President said they had to make Pakistan a welfare- oriented state and that was the real challenge before the government.
The President said that the law and order was under control in Karachi and that no one would be allowed to disturb the peace of the mega city. The President stressed the need for unity among people and greater co-ordination among official agencies and coalition partners to solve the problems of the people and address the issues between the coalition partners. The MPAs discussed various issues with the President as well as the development projects in their respective constituencies.