Local Government: Sindh opposition rejects proposed law changes

Local Government reforms in Sindh have triggered strong opposition from MQM-P, PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami, which have rejected key government proposals and accused the provincial administration of limiting the powers of elected mayors.

A parliamentary committee reviewing amendments to the Sindh Local Government Act met at the Sindh Assembly on Saturday. Government and opposition lawmakers attended the session and submitted their proposed amendments.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said the government had proposed arrangements for the period after the terms of elected local representatives expire.

He said the Election Commission of Pakistan would be formally approached 120 days before local government elections. This, he added, would give the commission enough time to complete delimitation and other preparations.

Lanjar said delimitation remained essential before elections and noted that previous polls had followed different schedules. Once the Election Commission announces the election schedule, he said, it would make the necessary arrangements while an administrator would manage day-to-day affairs during the interim period.

The minister said the government wanted to strengthen the Election Commission and noted that all political parties represented on the committee had submitted their own proposals.

Opposition lawmakers strongly criticised the government’s position.

PML-N PPP Talks: Coalition partners clash over unfulfilled promises

MQM-P lawmaker Taha Ahmed accused the provincial government of resisting the transfer of authority to elected local representatives. He demanded full powers for mayors under Article 140-A of the Constitution.

Ahmed also called for the implementation of the PPP’s 2008 manifesto commitment to devolve powers to local governments.

He questioned proposals that would remove the mayor’s authority over the master plan, solid waste management and the Water Board. He alleged that the proposed legislation could create what he called a “fake mayor”.

Ahmed warned that MQM-P would launch protests across the country if the government proceeded with what he described as controversial legislation.

MQM-P’s Iftikhar Alam also opposed the proposal to make mayors administrators. He argued that the arrangement could undermine electoral transparency, particularly if elections were delayed and the law failed to specify the administrator’s tenure.

Alam said the committee had also failed to address the transfer of powers to local governments in accordance with Supreme Court directives. He criticised the proceedings as lacking seriousness.

PTI’s Shabbir Qureshi said his party had rejected the government’s proposals, particularly the suggestion to place unelected representatives in union councils. PTI, he said, had instead called for internal administrators.

Qureshi criticised existing arrangements for solid waste management and alleged that authorities had taken powers away from the Water Board and the Sindh Building Control Authority.

He called for the implementation of the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 in line with Article 140-A and relevant Supreme Court judgments.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Muhammad Farooq said Sindh already had a local government law but argued that elected bodies remained ineffective because meaningful authority had not reached the grassroots.

Farooq said JI had proposed holding local government elections within 120 days and opposed the appointment of administrators. He said the committee had not accepted the party’s amendments.

He also rejected a proposed oversight mechanism instead of transferring powers to union councils.

Farooq said none of the proposals JI submitted three months earlier had been accepted and warned that the party would approach the courts if the proposed amendments became law.