Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Saturday underscored the need for urgent political reforms and improvement in the national economy.
Addressing a meeting of the party workers in Gizri, he said political reforms were badly needed so that the people could take part in the local bodies elections.
He added that the fees for candidature in local government polls should be reduced so that ordinary citizens could also think of taking part in the elections.
He remarked that presently only the elite class could afford the high fees and expenditures of polls.
Shakoor was of the view that in order to solve the lingering issues of Karachi, the megacity should be given a constitutional status. He said people could not bear further burden of price hike and inflation.
The supply of fuel at affordable prices should be the first step towards giving relief to the public, he said, adding that the previous government failed to control the price hike, which led to its doom. He said the present government of Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif should not repeat the same mistake.
The PDP chairman demanded overhauling of the poor public transport system in Karachi on an emergency basis.
He also demanded acceleration in the pace of work on the Karachi Circular Railway and bus rapid transit projects in the city.
He lamented that the Karachi was the only megacity of the world that had a poor public transport system. He said the rulers had always betrayed Karachi and its resident.
Imran Khan and his party sold Karachi and misused the mandate given to them by the megacity, Shakoor said. He added that there were good political leaders in Karachi but due to a corrupt system, they could not compete in the power politics presently dominated by the elite class.
He said Karachi gave the lion’s share of the country’s revenue but still it was neglected. He added that the skilled manpower of Karachi working abroad provided almost 70 per cent of the foreign remittances but those sons of soil faced the worst discrimination due to the corrupt quota system that should be ended.