MQM-P set to flex political muscle

Party sets Sept 20 Ayesha Manzil to Mazar-e-Quaid rally for new administrative units

KARACHI:

MQM-P has shifted its campaign for new administrative units from political forums to the streets, announcing a major rally from Ayesha Manzil to Mazar-e-Quaid on September 20 as the party steps up its push for a new administrative structure across the country.

The announcement came a day after MQM-P Chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui declared that the party had exhausted its efforts in assemblies and political forums and would now demonstrate its strength on the streets.

Addressing a general workers' meeting at a park adjoining the party's Bahadurabad headquarters, MQM-P central committee member and Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said the creation of new administrative units had become the need of the hour and that the party would soon hold a major public gathering in their favour.

He said the September 20 rally would be part of the campaign to build public support for new administrative units, arguing that smaller administrative structures would bring decision-making closer to citizens and improve the delivery of public services.

Kamal said the demand was no longer confined to MQM-P, claiming that a serious debate on the creation of new administrative units had begun across Pakistan. "The administrative units are too large," he said, arguing that a single chief minister could not effectively address the problems of tens of millions of people. As population, cities and public needs continued to expand, he said, the administrative structure also needed to evolve.

Kamal said Karachi was a city on which the entire country's economy depended, yet its own basic problems remained unresolved. Greater devolution of administrative powers and resources, he argued, would enable authorities to address problems closer to where people lived. He stressed that the creation of new administrative units was not aimed at dividing anyone but at improving governance and making public services more accessible.

Earlier, addressing an MQM-P women's convention in New Karachi, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui had announced that the party would take its demand to the streets, saying it had already made its case in parliament and political forums.

Siddiqui said the party was no longer seeking only greater municipal powers and would now demand a province, followed by the formulation of its own local government law.

He said the demand was not limited to Karachi, but extended to the creation of new administrative units across Pakistan, including in cities such as Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Larkana.

Siddiqui also rejected the notion that reorganising provinces would amount to dividing Pakistan, saying the country could not be divided but new provinces and administrative units could be created through constitutional and legal means.

MQM-P senior central committee member Anees Qaimkhani said the issue was not the concern of a single party or a few thousand workers but a matter affecting the public at large. He cited Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and Sukkur among areas where, he said, people needed more effective administrative services.