Amendments needed in local government law, says PPP Sindh chief

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has every intention of holding the local bodies elections in Sindh but for the purpose, amendments are required in the existing local government law in order to improve it.

PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said this on Sunday while talking to media persons after attending a programme in the Sachal Goth area of the city to mark the founding anniversary of the PPP.

He said that a conspiracy was hatched up to lessen the share of Sindh in the National Finance Commission’s award by counting less population of the province in the last census drive in the country.

By supporting the federal government on the approval of census results, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had compromised on the legitimate interests of the province, he added.

Khuhro was of the view that a deliberate attempt had been made to count the population of Sindh less than the actual number during the census irrespective of the fact that every year, there was a three per cent increase in population.

He alleged that the MQM and Grand Democratic Alliance both had proved to be disloyal to the cause of Sindh as being part of the federal government, they had approved the census results.

The PPP Sindh chief claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was opposed to the idea of provincial autonomy as he did not want to see provinces getting strong. This was the reason that the federal government was making attempts to deprive Sindh of its constitutional rights, he said.

He remarked that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s rule in the country had only brought crises to the countrymen.

Khuhro also lamented that the people of the province were being deprived of natural gas for cooking food despite the fact that the province accounted for the majority volume of gas produced in the country.

He said the Centre had attempted to create administrative issues in the province by arbitrarily transferring senior police and bureaucratic officials from the province without consulting the chief minister.

He claimed that the Sindh government had launched mega development projects in Karachi to transform the provincial capital into a mega city.