Amendment bill approved to make unelected Murtaza Wahab as mayor of Karachi
Apart from PPP, MQM Pakistan and Abdul Rasheed, lone member of Jamaat-e-Islami, also supported bill, non of PTI members were present in House
Unelected leader of PPP, Murtaza Wahab, became mayor of Karachi. Sindh Assembly has unanimously approved bill to amend Sindh Local Government Act.
Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2023, which was unanimously approved in Sindh Assembly on Thursday, states that any person can participate in elections of Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman, and Vice Chairman, but to remain in this position. So he has to be elected member of concerned council within 6 months.
In the Sindh Local Government Act 2013, it was stated that to contest the mayoral election, one must be the chairman of the Union Committee (UC) under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Corporation, but in the new legislation, anyone can contest the mayoral election.
President meets Imran Khan: Arrests of top leadership of PTI’s continue
Apart from the members of the assembly belonging to the ruling party Pakistan People’s Party, the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Jamaat-e-Islami’s lone member Abdul Rasheed also supported the amendment bill, which was unanimously passed. but was passed because no member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf was present in the House on Thursday.
It should be noted that Jamaat-e-Islami’s mayoral candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has been elected UC chairman, however, despite being the largest party in Karachi, no leading leader of PPP has been directly elected for the mayoral election.
PP sources say that with this amendment, the ruling party will be able to field the former administrator of Karachi, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, as the mayoral candidate, who did not contest the UC chairman election directly.
Sources told Dawn that the decision to make Barrister Murtaza Wahab a candidate for the post of Mayor of Karachi on behalf of the People’s Party was taken by the top leadership of the party on Wednesday.
He said that a meeting of party officials was held at Bilawal House on Wednesday under the chairmanship of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Mr. Bhutto Zardari and People’s Party leader Faryal Talpur told other participants of the meeting that the party will make Murtaza Wahab its candidate for the mayor of Karachi.
Sources say that it was pointed out in the meeting that Murtaza Wahab is not eligible to contest the mayoral election under the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 due to not being elected UC Chairman, on which the top leadership of the party asked the Chief Minister of Sindh and Other government officials were ordered to amend the law. Sources say that if Murtaza Wahab is elected as the mayor of Karachi, the People’s Party will contest the by-elections on the UC seat.
However, sources say that the People’s Party will officially announce its candidates for mayors/chairmen of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and other districts in view of the fear of legal challenge to the amended law.
Even in the local government system introduced by former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, any person was allowed to contest the mayoral election and after assuming the post of mayor, it was not mandatory for him to contest the UC chairman election.
Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, without naming General Musharraf, told the House that the same arrangement was in place during Nazmin’s local government system. He said that this amendment was also a part of SLGA 2013 earlier and it was in accordance with the constitutional provisions. was
According to Geo News, some leaders of the People’s Party have said that the amendment bill will lead to the bringing forward of favored persons, which will discourage the old organizational workers. They further said that the leadership is being made aware of their concerns and the decisions A protest will also be recorded at the organizational level.
On the other hand, Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Khurram Sher Zaman has said that he rejects the Local Government Amendment Bill presented by the government in the Sindh Assembly. How can a person who does not get the people’s vote be made the mayor of the city?
He said that no one has the right to be selected for the post of mayor, the amendment bill is clearly malicious. They also reject the policy of contesting elections for mayor in 6 months. Everyone knows that PPP is expert in conducting rigged elections.
