‘Could MPAs not have passed the LG law in the 15 assembly sessions?’

Petition asks why an ordinance was rushed instead of allowing a vote.

KARACHI:

The new ordinance for local government has scarcely seen the light of day and someone has already challenged it in court.

‘Serial petitioner’ Syed Muhammad Iqbal Kazmi is known for his propensity for the law. He has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the new Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance 2012 that was issued early Friday morning. The actual document has not been made public but the petition has been filed on the basis of newspaper reports.

The gist of the petition’s argument is that the government should not have issued an ordinance when elected representatives should have debated it in the Sindh Assembly and voted on it. Ordinances are passed by the governor when the assembly is not in session. The two key coalition partners had debated a draft for almost two years during which 15 sessions of the Sindh Assembly were held. The What was the rush as well? The government had not bothered with this matter for four years only to suddenly rush it through now.

During this time, the government managed to pass a number of other laws, including the private partnership bill, Sindh zakat bill and Indus University bill.

The petition also questions the logic of having a dual system (commissioners and elected local government representatives) instead of one across the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2012.