MQM leaders lament delay in elections for mayor

Waseem Akhtar said Sindh government is not interested in the LG system and is delaying its implementation

KARACHI: Lambasting the authorities for the delay in mayoral elections and those of vice-chairman and chairman of district councils and district municipal corporations, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders lamented that for the last six months, powers have not been transferred.

"Six months have gone by since the local government elections were held but, the system is not being enforced," said the party's mayor-nominee, Wasim Akhtar. He was addressing a press conference at a ground in Federal B Area on Saturday.

Local government elections were held in the country only because of the court's orders, he claimed. Sindh government is not interested in the local government system and is delaying its implementation by bringing changes in the law again and again, he added. He requested that the Supreme Court ensure that the elections were held within the next 60 days. "I urge the prime minister to visit Karachi and see for himself the problems being faced by the people of the city." The MQM leader also said that because of the government's inefficiency, Karachi has become a garbage dump.  The government is not focusing on Karachi and is just focusing on Panama Papers, he remarked. Flanked by the MQM's nominee for deputy mayor, he said that Karachi is being run under a feudal system.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2016.