Sindh Assembly allows dual nationals to contest LG elections

Women’s quota increased from 22% to 33%

KARACHI:

The Sindh Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that allows dual nationals to contest the upcoming local government (LG) elections.

This third amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act was moved by parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro. "There was no bar on dual nationality in local government law in 2001 but it was restricted later," pointed out LG minister Nasir Shah. "Now, the government has omitted the relevant clause by giving permission to dual nationals to contest the elections."

The other three amendments to the act pertained to women and youth quota for elections in the union-council level and the use of secret ballots to elect the chairperson of the UC and town municipal administration.

"There was a 22-per-cent quota for women for the UC and it has now been increased to 33 per cent," said Shah. "In the previous law passed by the assembly a few months ago, only one seat was reserved for women. It has now been increased to two."

These amendments were made to the law in the absence of the main opposition party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, whose members resigned from the assembly the same day.

"The total number of members in each union council and union committee has now been increased from nine to 11," stated the amendment. According to the earlier law, there were two seats allocated for the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the UC, four seats for the general councillors, and one each for women, labour and minority members. The two additional seats in the new amendment are for women and youth.

"We have inserted a new clause giving five per cent representation to the youth in each UC, town committee, municipal corporation, district council and metropolitan corporation," said Dr Mandhro.

The chairperson and vice-chairperson of the UCs will be elected directly "Earlier, the UC councillors had to elect their chairperson and vice-chairperson in the second phase once they had been themselves," he explained. "After this amendment, these positions will be filled through direct elections along with the councillors."

The councillors will continue working in their UCs while the chairperson and the vice-chairperson will represent their respective constituencies in the municipal corporations, metropolitan corporations and district municipal corporations, he added.

Four bills passed

Apart from these amendments, the lawmakers also managed to pass four other bills. The 'Sindh Zakat and Ushr (Amendment)' bill, moved by Dr Mandhro, will allow zakat funds to be disbursed to deserving people through cross cheques, order cheques or ATMs.  'The Malir University of Science and Technology' bill was also passed to establish a private university in the area.

The 'Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (Amendment)' bill was also taken up by the assembly. The objective of the bill is to provide and maintain safe and secure water supply to the residents of Karachi.

The bill included a punishment of up to 10 years and Rs1 million as fine for any person who damages a water trunk or sets up an illegal hydrant. The offence committed under this section will be cognisable and the police will arrest these people without any warrant.

Lastly, the lawmakers passed an amendment bill to establish 'Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana' in order to honour the youngest daughter of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. The bill stated that the syndicate of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana in its meeting held on July 3 passed a resolution to change the name of Chandka Medical and Dental College, Larkana after Aseefa.

This bill did not sit well with the opposition. Pakistan Muslim League-Functional's Mehtab Rashdi questioned Aseefa's contribution to the field of medicine. "There are many other notables whose name can be suggested," she said but PPP members failed to respond.  When Rashdi repeated her question, the parliamentary minister said, "The syndicate of the university has made this decision and we have to follow it."

Assembly condemns Kasur scandal

A resolution against the country’s worst incident of child abuse in Kasur was passed unanimously by the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday. The resolution demanded an immediate arrest of the culprits and their trial in military courts.

The resolution was moved by Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Sharmila Farooqi and was supported by the lawmakers of all parliamentary parties in the assembly. “This House vehemently condemns the largest and worst-ever incident of child abuse case in Pakistan in Kasur, Punjab,” read the resolution. “The glaring fact that the abuse had been on-going since 2006 and no action whatsoever was taken until the victims’ parents staged protests raises serious concerns regarding the sheer negligence and apathy of the police.”

The session was later prorogued for an indefinite time.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2015.