MQM-P finally gets city administrator seat

Dr Saifur Rahman appointed in place of Murtaza Wahab

KARACHI:

The PPP-led Sindh government has appointed a new administrator of Karachi, nominated by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

The PPP leadership finally agreed to implement one of the promises it had made to win over MQM-P’s support when they had moved the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in April this year.

MQM-P had proposed the name of Dr. Saifur Rahman as administrator in place of Murtaza Wahab. A notification in this regard has been issued.

According to the sources, before the appointment of Dr. Saifur Rahman as administrator Karachi, an important consultative meeting of the PPP was held in the Chief Minister’s House with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in the chair.

Local Government Minister, Nasir Hussain Shah, Sindh Information Minister, Sharjeel Memon, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani and Food Minister, Mukesh Kumar Chawla also attended the meeting.

MQM-P had given the names of Dr. Saifur Rehman, Abdul Waseem and Iftikhar Qaim Khani for the post of administrator. The meeting with the approval of PPP leadership agreed to appoint Dr. Saifur Rahman as the new administrator of Karachi.

Dr. Saifur Rahman is currently serving as the Principal Secretary to Sindh Governor Kamran Tesoori. Besides this, he has also served as the Municipal Commissioner KMC and other various government positions.

It may be noted that there was an agreement between PPP and MQM Pakistan to support the PDM government in the Centre.

In the agreement, it was also decided to appoint MQM-P candidate at the post of administrator Karachi. However, there were ups and downs in both the parties regarding implementation of the agreement. A number of meetings were held in this regard. This time, the political role of the Sindh governor was prominent regarding the progress in the demands.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2022.