Voicing concerns: MQM terms Sindh LG Act 2013 a ‘black law’

Amendments made to law will divide people, says MQM.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has rejected the amendments in the Sindh Local Government Act 2013, terming it a ‘black law’.

On Monday, the MQM’s parliamentarians held a rally from the Sindh Assembly to the Karachi Press Club, shouting slogans against what they termed were unfair policies instituted by the amendments. They demanded the amendments be revoked and the law be changed after consulting all political parties. The MQM will likely hold protests across the province if their demands are not heeded to, The Express Tribune has learnt.

On Saturday, the acting governor, Agha Siraj Durrani, had promulgated three ordinances amending the Sindh Local Government Act 2013. “This ordinance is a conspiracy to snatch powers from the common people,” alleged MQM’s Syed Sardar Ahmed, while speaking to the media. He was of the opinion that all three ordinances that had amended the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 were aimed to deprive the people of their rights.



Before the rally, MQM leaders held a parliamentary meeting in the assembly where they discussed the amendments made by the ordinances and expressed serious reservations over them. Speaking to The Express Tribune, MQM’s parliamentarian, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, questioned why the PPP was not introducing the amendments in the assembly. “What is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) scared of?” he asked. “Why is it not bringing them to the assembly floor and passing them after consultation with other parties?”

Hassan labeled this as pre-poll rigging by the PPP, claiming it was their way of ensuring that they brought in their own mayors. “They want to bring in their own men and ignore the voice of the people. Why are they holding elections then when they don’t want to listen to the citizens?” he inquired.

The leader made it clear that they will not boycott the local bodies’ elections but would continue to demand for free and fair elections. He said that they would seek a just system of governance where there was true representation of the people.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media in the Sindh Assembly, the parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro said that there was no reason to take back the amendments in the ordinance.

“When the local body bill was being presented, why weren’t there any protests then?” He said that it was wrong to claim that the ordinance was aimed to create divisions amongst those living in the cities and those in the rural areas. He claimed that the PPP had never spoken of dividing the province and that everyone was aware of who spoke in favour of the division.

“The Sindh government has fulfilled its responsibility regarding the local bodies elections. Now it is the responsibility of the election commission to complete all the procedures,” said Mandhro.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2013.