Qaim to be removed as Sindh chief minister after 8 years
karachi —The top leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party has decided to replace the octogenarian Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah with a relatively young man to what many believe face tough challenges ahead, reports Dawn online.
Shah — a third-time chief minister — had gone to Dubai on Saturday to attend a meeting convened by PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari for primarily discussing and finalising a decision on expanding the scope of special policing powers of Rangers to the whole of Sindh.
Although there were reports of an imminent reshuffle in the Sindh cabinet, it appears that even Shah was not aware of his fate when he landed in the United Arab Emirates. Sindh Senior Minister Murad Ali Shah — a top candidate for the post of chief minister — was already in Dubai when Qaim Ali Shah arrived there.
Senator Farhatullah Babar, spokesperson for Zardari, said in a statement that the PPP had decided to make changes in the Sindh cabinet, including bringing in a new chief minister. According to Senator Babar, Shah was also present in the Sunday’s meeting in Dubai which took the decision to remove him.
Explaining the decision, he said it had been taken after “some senior leaders of the party” called on the former president in Dubai.
Senator Babar said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari “is scheduled to return to Karachi to meet provincial party leaders and lawmakers before finalising changes in the Sindh cabinet”.
While the statement did not speak about any other issue that came under discussion during the meeting, also attended by Bilawal and Faryal Talpur, sources said Zardari had earlier instructed Chief Minister Shah to extend the policing powers of Rangers only in Karachi division as soon as he reached the provincial capital.
However, Zardari was still reluctant to give Shah a go-ahead to expand the area of jurisdiction of the paramilitary force, as demanded by the military establishment, to the whole of Sindh.
The sources said the PPP co-chairman wanted certain assurances from the military establishment that Rangers would not arrest any elected member or bureaucrat and would inform the Sindh chief minister before taking any action in any part of Sindh other than Karachi.
He also wanted his party to refer the matter of Rangers’ stay in Sindh and their powers to the provincial assembly, the sources added.
A senior PPP leader, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that because of old age Shah “is not moving with the pace of time as he was supposed to”. Besides, he said, Shah was “too soft” on certain issues, which included the current controversy surrounding the Rangers’ special powers and their action against certain individuals belonging to the PPP.
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