Legal recourse: MQM to approach court for mayoral powers

Faisal Subzwari speaks of Karachi's problems

KARACHI: Criticising Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for enjoying the mayor's powers, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has once again decided to approach the court to seek municipal powers and authority for the mayor.

Party leader Faisal Subzwari, flanked by opposition leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan, spoke to the media after holding a parliamentary party meeting in the Sindh Assembly. "[Union council] UC chairmen have been elected in the city but they have no office to sit and look after their constituencies' problems," he said. He added that the mayor of Karachi has started a 100-day cleanliness campaign but the provincial government has given a cold shoulder to it.

"Despite [the] government's tall claims, funds are not released to elected local bodies' representatives," he said. "Neither is the government serious about Karachi's civic issues."

He referred to the chief minister's statements about lifting solid waste from Karachi's roads and said that nothing has been done so far. "Karachi is being neglected because it is our constituency and they are taking revenge from MQM," he remarked.

He said that the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) main focus is on the upcoming elections, which is why it has diverted attention to woo lotas [turncoats] to bring them in their party.

Hassan warned that if their issues are not resolved, they will besiege the Chief Minister House. He announced that the MQM will also field its candidates from Lyari, giving tough time to PPP in its dominated constituencies in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2017.