KARACHI:
Karachi has a population of more than 14 million and is engulfed in multiple challenges. The haphazard and unregulated infrastructure development has encroached on sewage water channels. This leads to inundation even during minor rainfall confining people to their homes and paralysing the city for days. Thousands of families have been uprooted in the anti-encroachment drive along the nullahs and are still running from pillar to post in search of rehabilitation. A sizeable population lives along the city’s coastline, which remains vulnerable to any sea-related disasters.
These issues highlight the importance of a resilient third tier of government, which can deliver basic amenities to people. All the developed cities across the world, such as New York and London have one secret behind the robust service delivery mechanism: administratively and financially independent local government systems. However, one of the world’s biggest metropolitan cities, Karachi, has lacked a local representative system for many years. The provincial government reluctantly held local government elections on court directives. Jamaat-i-Islami with the support of PTI had a clear majority in the mayoral elections.
However, various media reports suggest that the provincial government has intimidated the elected chairmen of the PTI into submission. This is a gross violation of democratic norms, which believe in free will and the independent exercise of voting rights. It is a great disservice to democracy on the part of the PPP, which always preaches democratic values. The election result which handed over the much-coveted post of the mayor to the PPP will have far-reaching consequences. The public will be further alienated from the democratic process. Instead of strengthening the democratic foundations, the fragile structure of democracy will further erode. The country is not in a position to sustain further gimmicks amid the ongoing economic and political turmoil.
Asad Aziz
Khushab
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2023.
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