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Saturday, August 15, 2009

President Asif Zardari performs ground-breaking of new Sindh Assembly building


President Asif Ali Zardari performed the ground-breaking ceremony of the new Sindh Assembly building here on Friday.

The ceremony was held within the precincts of the existing building of the provincial assembly.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1.9 billion and the completion time is 30 months.

The new building will have a seating capacity of 350 members of the provincial assembly.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended among others by Senate Chairman Farooq A Naek, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, federal and provincial ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and the elite of the city.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar A Khuhro presented the welcome address.

On the occasion, President Zardari said that Pakistan needs a new vision and a new relationship with the world.

He said that the country also needs a new relationship with its neighbours.

He said that there should be regional ownership to the war in Afghanistan and the regional ownership to the trade of the world which starts from Pakistan and including India, China, Turkey or the neighbour of our region should be a common market.

Zardari said that this process of thought was shared first by Benazir Bhutto in a summit where she had acknowledged SAARC as the future economical zone.

Referring to the ground-breaking ceremony of the new building of the Sindh Assembly, the president said that this honour has been bestowed upon him through the vehicle of Bhuttoism.

He further stated that the Bhuttoism gives us the people's power and the people of Pakistan the sustaining power to fight and act against all dictators.

Zardari said that it was this parliament that passed a resolution that led to the exit of a dictator from the Presidency.

He also referred to the concept of reconciliation that was given by the great leader Benazir Bhutto and said that we can see it working.

"Today amongst us sit all the political forces of Pakistan including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, the opposition, independents and that they are all here to serve the people of Pakistan," the president added.

He further stated that this is the Assembly where our founding father, the Quaid-e-Azam, gave us Pakistan due to the help of the Sindh Assembly.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, termed the new Sindh Assembly building project a very significant and historic one.

The governor said that in Sindh, the Pakistan People's Party, the ANP and the MQM are together and this alliance is very strong and its positive impact ensures the stability in the province as well as in Pakistan. app