Late breaking: 1979 local bodies system revived in Sindh
Notification was passed to pull the province out of an administrative limbo.
To temporarily end an administrative crisis in Sindh, the province’s administration issued a notification early Thursday morning, reviving the 1979 local bodies system – which means a revival of the commissioner system across the province, including Karachi and Hyderabad.
Karachi will revert to its five-district format.
The move comes as coalition partners the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) are yet to agree over the shape and form of a mutually acceptable local government system in Sindh. Negotiations on the matter will continue between the two – but, for the time being, the notification was passed to pull the province out of an administrative limbo with the lapse of an ordinance passed in August.
The administrative crises began just before the Eid holidays with the lapse of the controversial ordinance originally aimed at rebuilding broken ties between the MQM and PPP. However, the ordinance could not be passed by the assembly within a stipulated 90-day period – following which it ceased to hold legal cover.
The lapsing of the ordinance meant that the province did not hold any proper governance system or structure – hence the notification was issued to cover legal lacunas that could have proved disastrous for the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2011.