Pakistan provincial minister sacked

Pakistan provincial minister and prominent Pakistan People's Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon was on Wednesday dismissed as minister for Works, Services and Archives of Sindh province.

"In exercise of powers conferred under clause 3 of Article 132 of the Constitution, on the recommendation of Sindh CM and approval of Sindh Governor, the status of Sharjeel Inam Memon as Sindh provincial minister is hereby de-notified with immediate effect," read a notification issued by the Sindh government.

The Sindh minister previously held the position of the provincial information minister before he was replaced by senior PPP leader Nisar Khuhro in July this year.

Memon's portfolio was later changed in August and, while continuing to hold the portfolio of the archives and local government departments, he was given the additional charge of the works and services department.

He has reportedly not been in the country since the past few months with some reports suggesting that he has been shuttling between London and Dubai.

Khuhro said in an interview last week that Memon's name has been included in the exit control list (ECL), adding that he had not been booked in any criminal case.

The announcement regarding the provincial minister's sacking came at the conclusion of a five-hour-long Sindh apex committee meeting.

Provincial Apex Committees in all four provinces of Pakistan coordinate security matters and implement the recently approved National Action Plan to combat terrorism. These panels consist of both military and political leadership.

Maula Bux Chandio, Information advisor to the Sindh chief minister, confirmed to media persons that the PPP leader has been stripped of his ministries.

"He is a minister no longer," Chandio said.