PTI rejects amendments to LG law approved by Sindh cabinet

Rejecting the provincial cabinet’s proposed amendments in the Sindh Local Government Act (SLGA) 2013, leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday said the law would be acceptable only if it was completely revamped in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and directives of the Supreme Court.

Addressing the media at the Sindh Assembly building, the leader of the opposition, PTI’s Haleem Adil Sheikh, and parliamentary leader of the party Khurrum Sher Zaman criticised the Sindh government for approving some amendments in the controversial local government law in the Sindh cabinet meeting on Monday without consulting opposition parties.

Sheikh said the Sindh government had assured on floor of the provincial assembly that an all-inclusive select committee would be formed to revisit and revise the SLGA 2013 in consultation with all the representative parties and in accordance with directives of the Supreme Court and Constitution of Pakistan, but the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had not opened the doors of dialogue so far.

“It is a deceptive and delaying tactic of the PPP-led provincial government,” he said. He added that the PPP had breached the promise from the very first day by declining floor to the leader of the opposition and parliamentary leaders of opposition parties and the said select committee had not been notified. He maintained that the opposition had handed over names of its nominated members to the minister of parliamentary affairs but those names were not submitted to the speaker’s secretariat.

Sheikh said that the PTI and other opposition parties had been opposing the local government law since its inception because it was a violation of the Constitution. He added that the earlier local government law of 2013 was also unconstitutional as 21 sections and three schedules of it negated the true spirit of devolution of powers and the apex court had also annulled its sections 74 and 75,

The opposition leader announced that the PTI would continue its movement against what he called the black law until all the controversial provisions were purged of it. “The PTI will hold demonstrations in the Sindh Assembly and also on roads for a local government Act commensurate with constitutional requirements as well as the judgment of Supreme Court and if we are not allowed to speak in the assembly on the LG law and other burning issues of Sindh, the PTI parliamentarians will hold a sit-in outside the CM House and Bilawal House.”

Zaman said Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had failed in all the ministries and departments headed by him and the provincial government had completely failed to carry out the core responsibility of securing the lives and properties of citizens.