Local body elections soon, says Saeed Ghani

Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani said the provincial government is ready for local body elections which, according to him, will be held in the next few months.

“Introducing a new local government system is necessary to strengthen local government institutions,” he said while talking to the media on the inauguration of a three-day furniture and living exhibition at the Karachi Expo Center on Friday.

"After the latest census, fresh constituencies are necessary. In this regard, our case is pending with the federation," he added.
"We do not want to be separated from Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)," he said. Ghani continued that political parties, which laid pressure for resignation and long march from the assembly, are today doing what PPP was advising. PPP wants to live on the basis of equality.”

PPP considering Musharraf-style govt

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is considering the implementation of a local government system in Sindh along the lines of the one once run by former president General Pervez Musharraf
Sources said it has been proposed that local councils be formed on the town level in Karachi. It was reported that the top PPP leadership and a committee of Sindh cabinet members, headed by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, were working on the draft of the proposed system in Sindh.

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They claimed that the committee held several meetings to draft the local body law and important suggestions were also considered.
It was reported that some ministers suggested that a town system should be set up in the city along the lines of the setup under the Musharraf era. During the former president’s military regime, there were 18 towns in Karachi and each one had its own nazim. The proposed local government act reportedly suggests handing over the system of supply and drainage of water and solid waste management to the local governments. Meanwhile, a proposal to maintain the system of district councils across Sindh is also under consideration.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2021.