Gulf widening between Sindh CM, cabinet members over allegations of 'interference'
Pakistan
Gulf widening between Sindh CM, cabinet members over allegations of ‘interference’
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The gulf between the caretaker chief minister of Sindh and several members of his cabinet is widening, it is learnt.
According to sources, differences between the Sindh chief minister and Health Minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz came to light during a cabinet meeting, after which Dr Niaz started levelling allegations against the caretaker CM, accusing him of “interfering” in his department.
Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar has reportedly taken back the portfolio of finance and planning from Younus Dhaga, which has also annoyed some provincial ministers, including caretaker Local Governments Minister Mubeen Jamani.
Sources said that differences emerged after the caretaker health minister cancelled a multibillion-rupee tender last month on the grounds that robotic systems were too costly and should not be used for routine surgeries.
They said that the tender concerned the purchase of four robotic systems for the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Gambat Hospital and Liaquat University of Medical Sciences Hospital.
Sources disclosed that the health minister was allegedly pressurised by certain quarters to change his mind, since some influential party was involved in the tender process.
They further said that as the chief minister was not satisfied with the health minister’s objection, he himself visited the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) on Tuesday and received a briefing on the utility of robotic surgery there.
It is important to mention here that the tender in question had been floated during the tenure of the former provincial government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, and it is, therefore, beyond the caretakers’ authority to cancel it.
Nevertheless, the health minister on Wednesday night released a statement detailing that the decision to stop the purchase of robotic systems was taken in the light of expert surgeons.
The minister alleged that certain irregularities had also been noticed.
Citing the chief minister, his spokesperson said that Health Minister Dr Saad Niaz had failed to improve the performance and condition of the hospitals and was trying to hide his poor performance behind his allegations.
Dr Saad Niaz, based on his mala fide, had managed to cancel the review meeting of the cabinet thrice in order to hide his poor performance, he said.
The spokesperson said that the language Dr Niaz employed in his statements was indecent, uncivilised and unprofessional.
The spokesperson said that the kind of misrepresentation and absurdity Saad Niaz showed in his statements reflected the fact that there was no basis for lies.
The spox asserted that when Dr Saad Niaz was held accountable, he came down to making baseless and false statements.
Competitor parties of the Pakistan Peoples Party have also reportedly expressed reservations in this respect.
