Power tussle: Will MQM join govt for enhanced mayoral powers?

Party has reportedly begun ‘wooing’ PPP to begin development work

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has always remained ambitious when it comes to gaining control of urban Sindh. Keeping in line with its tried and tested methods, the party has reportedly become active in devising a scheme to become a part of the government yet again in order to ensure enhanced powers for the mayor, which in turn, will enable its leaders to start development work in their respective constituencies. The desperation on part of the MQM is perhaps self-explanatory, given how it is facing multiple issues - both external and internal in nature.



According to sources, the MQM has started establishing backdoor contacts with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in order to get enhanced powers for the Karachi mayor and re-join the Sindh government. Sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune that some senior leaders of the MQM have conveyed a message to the PPP through Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, expressing willingness to join the government. “MQM’s main motive is to gain mayor powers and start development work in their constituencies, which is why the party has started wooing the PPP,” said a senior PPP leader, adding that the ice seems be melting on both the sides.

Mayor’s visit to assembly

After his release from jail on bail, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar visited the Sindh Assembly on Friday and has been trying to meet PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “There is no doubt that I am a toothless mayor having no power to even look after civic issues including water and sanitation,” Akhtar told The Express Tribune.

He said that all the powers of the development lie with the Sindh government and the mayor has no role in the Karachi Development Authority, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, sanitation board and other civic issues. “[My lack of power] can be gauged from the fact that the salaries of our employees are released by the Sindh government,” he said, adding that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) earlier used to collect the local taxes, including cess, but these powers have also been taken back from the municipal corporation. “I want to devise a plan for the development of Karachi and the Sindh government should support me,” he said. “I am in contact with the PPP-led government to gain my powers enriched in Article 140 of the Constitution.”

The question of authority

Meanwhile, PPP leaders said that they have already given powers to the mayor and cannot compromise on unlawful demands. “We have given the powers to the mayor that have been defined in Sindh Local Government Act, 2013,” said Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro, adding that the mayor is a member of all the boards and projects, including the K-4 project and Solid Waste Management Board among others. “He has been given the supervisory role,” he said.



Responding to this, the mayor said that he cannot anything if he cannot hold anyone accountable for wrongdoings. “I cannot take action if anyone is found involved in negligence,” said Akhtar, adding that he will knock the doors of various stakeholders to shun the differences and join hands for the development of Karachi. “The credit will equally go to PPP if Karachi is developed,” he said. “I wonder why the PPP government is afraid of it.”

Possible meetings

Sources in the PPP said that a delegation of the MQM is likely to hold a meeting with the chief minister in the coming days to discuss the power-sharing formula and the mayor’s powers.

Parliamentary Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that they have not closed the doors for MQM and will consider if the party is interested in joining them in the Sindh government.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2016.