Murtaza Wahab says PPP has not told him to resign from KMC administrator’s post

Over rumours that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would appoint a new administrator nominated by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) following the pact signed between the two parties on Wednesday, incumbent KMC administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Thursday said he had not received any instruction yet from his party to step down.

“My party has appointed me to the administrator Karachi’s post. So far, I have not received any instruction to resign from the post. I am performing my duties as per the instructions of the party,” he said addressing a press conference at the Sindh Assembly.

Wahab, who also serves as the spokesperson for the Sindh government and adviser to the chief minister on law, said the objective of the agreement between the PPP and MQM-P was not to get key positions but to work for the betterment of the city and province.

He, however, stated that the Karachi administrator should be one who belongs to the city and who can work for its betterment. “We want to establish a lasting relationship and hopefully we will succeed in it. The PPP and the MQM-P want development of the city, development of the province and if both the parties work together, better results will come," said the KMC administrator.

He also maintained that the PPP had not reached any agreement with the MQM-P regarding new administrative units. Regarding the uncertain situation in the Centre, Wahab said Prime Minister Imran Khan had no right to be in power as he had lost the support of the majority in the National Assembly.

“Imran Khan’s government has lost its majority. The opposition alliance now has more than 175 members, while 172 members are needed to form a government,” he said. He added that the no-confidence motion had been submitted and now voting should be done without any delay. “The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf wants to divert attention through various excuses but the time has come for them to panic,” he remarked.

Wahab lamented that the incarcerated Ali Wazir was an MNA but the National Assembly speaker was not issuing his production orders which was tantamount to depriving him of his rights. “When a person is a member of the assembly, he has full right to come to the assembly. When Syed Khurshid Shah was in custody, the same Sindh government had declared the Sindh House a sub-jail,” he said.

He went on to claim that in the last three-and-a-half years, Pakistan had gone into decline instead of growth, and inflation had made life difficult for the people. The country was in debt, and electricity, gas, petrol, flour and sugar were out of reach of people, he added.