Abbasi slams Sindh governance, utilisation of 3.6tr budget

KARACHI: A political exchange unfolded on Wednesday after Awam Pakistan Party chief and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi criticised the Sindh government’s performance and questioned how a provincial budget of about Rs3.6 trillion was being spent, while the provincial administration rejected his claims as politically driven.

Speaking at a press conference in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Abbasi said Sindh, and Karachi in particular, was facing serious governance problems despite the size of the provincial budget. He asked where the funds were being utilised and who would be answerable for the failure to provide basic public services.

Abbasi alleged that Karachi’s water supply network had effectively fallen under the control of tanker and hydrant mafias. He also referred to University Road, saying the project had remained unfinished for years, and questioned how broader urban problems could be resolved when even basic development schemes were not being completed.

He further drew attention to conditions in rural Sindh, saying the education and health sectors were in poor shape. Abbasi said the delivery of essential services was a constitutional obligation of the government.

The former prime minister also linked governance issues to wider economic pressures, saying financial hardship and increasing fuel prices were forcing more young people to leave the country. He warned that the trend could worsen if governance did not improve.

Referring to Karachi’s role in the national economy, Abbasi called for stronger local government structures and a fairer allocation of resources. He said the province had adequate funds and argued that the core issue was not the availability of money but governance and priorities.

Sindh government response

In response, Sindh government spokesperson Sadia Javed rejected Abbasi’s remarks and said he was trying to "sell old criticism under a new political label."

She urged him to address accountability in the LNG case instead of targeting Karachi. Sadia Javed said Abbasi’s comments were intended to divert attention from facts and accused him of engaging in political point-scoring.

Defending the Pakistan Peoples Party government’s record, she said development work carried out in Karachi under the PPP was visible on the ground.

The exchange added to the ongoing political debate over governance, service delivery and development in Sindh, with both sides presenting sharply different views on the provincial government’s performance in Karachi and other parts of the province.