Opposition parties say no to Sindh LG Act

KARACHI: Opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly on Saturday protested against the recently passed Local Government Act, by claiming that the Act had stripped the local body representatives of key administrative and financial powers.

Besides, they also vowed to continue their struggle against the injustices with the province’s residents. A large number of workers belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), three major political parties who are part of opposition in Sindh Assembly and coalition government in the centre, attended the protest that was held at Fawara Chowk.

Carrying placards, party flags and chanting slogans against what they termed a “black law”, the workers demanded from PPP’s provincial government to revoke the disputed local government bill and empower the municipal committees to resolve their civic issues..

Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, MQM-P’s convenor, while addressing the protestors, said people from all ethnicities living in the city have attended the protest which shows zero confidence in the biased provincial government of PPP.

“Right now, an anti-government march is awaiting and Saturday's protest is just a notice to the Sindh government,” said Siddqui, adding, “Sindh Chief Minister House is not far away from Fawara Chowk. If the protests start marching towards it, they can vacate the Sindh CM House too.”

PTI Sindh president and federal minister Ali Zaidi said that the joint opposition in Sindh had organised an impressive power show and Karachi’s residents gave their verdict against the local government law and the PPP-led provincial government.

MQM-P’s senior deputy convener Amir Khan said the protest against the PPP-led government will begin from city’s main artery Sharea Faisal near Metropole Hotel.

Khan also announced that they would not go back till the provincial government repealed the local government law, adding, “The feudal style of governance of PPP in Sindh is causing a great deal of unrest among the people and giving them the feeling of alienation,” he said.

Opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said that their protest campaign was against the “corrupt rulers” of Sindh that had passed the controversial law through the backdoor.

GDA’s MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi said that the disputed local government legislation must be abolished because it aimed at making people from Karachi to Kashmore powerless.

GDA’s MPA Hasnain Mirza and Sardar Abdul Rahim, MQM-P’s Khwaja Izharul Hasan, PTI MPA Khurram Sherzaman and other leaders also spoke to the protest rally and said that all the major parties of the province were in agreement that the Sindh government had snatched the rights of the people through the amended local government law.