The way Sindh govt passed LG bill was irresponsible, says governor

The Sindh government acted in an irresponsible manner by showing haste in passing a bill from the provincial assembly to amend the local government system of the province, said Sindh Governor Imran Ismail while talking to media persons on Sunday.

He said the Sindh government should have followed parliamentary norms by presenting the bill in an appropriate manner before the Sindh Assembly. He told the media that the opposition had serious reservations about the manner in which the legislature had adopted the bill, and a delegation of opposition legislators in the Sindh Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Grand Democratic Alliance had also met him to complain about the passage of the bill.

Hinting that he may not give his assent to the bill, the governor said he had assured the delegation that he would play his due constitutional role with regard to the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2021 that had been passed by the provincial assembly.

The governor is supposed to give his assent or otherwise to a newly passed bill from the Sindh Assembly. The bill cannot be enacted if the governor refuses to give his assent. In such case, the bill is referred back to the Sindh Assembly and if the legislature adopts it again, it is enacted.

To a question regarding the proposed transfer of senior police officials from Sindh, Ismail said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was a responsible person but the reaction shown by him on the issue of the transfer of senior police officers from the province was inappropriate.

PTI leader decries bill

In a related statement, Opposition MPA and PTI Karachi leader Khurrum Sher Zaman said the Sindh government had murdered the democratic norms by the way it passed from the Sindh Assembly the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2021.

He said the newly passed bill was aimed at protecting the vested interests of the Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Zaman was of the view that the Sindh government had already caused the division of Karachi by forming new districts and the process of fragmentation of the city would further accentuate after the formation of several towns.

He alleged the town formation in Karachi would further the money-minting drive of the Sindh government in the city. The PTI MPA announced that the party would approach the judiciary against the use of secret ballots for the mayoral election under the newly passed bill. He said that electing the mayor secretly instead of using the show of hands for the purpose was meant to buy political loyalties of elected local government representatives of the City Council.