KARACHI: Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister Maula Bux Chandio has said that the bill amending the Local Government Act, 2013 which the Sindh government got passed from the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday was meant to ensure transparency in the indirect elections of local government representatives by replacing the secret ballot system with show of hands.

Mr Chandio was speaking at a press conference at the PPP Media Cell in Clifton on Thursday with legal adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Karachi PPP president Najme Alam.

He said that by getting the bill through the assembly the government had met a demand made by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party, Jamaat-i-Islami and others through their letters to the election commission, chief secretary and secretary for local government highlighting the need for transparency in the elections. Therefore, he said, the MQM’s allegations and campaign against the bill was only meant to malign the Sindh government.

He said that selection of local government representatives for reserved seats were not possible on a party basis, which was a legal binding as per the law and as per the judgement of the apex court.

The adviser said the elections for mayor and chairmen slots in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were conducted through divisions while the Punjab government also changed the procedure under which the elections of the mayor and on reserved seats were held separately on a party basis and through divisions, respectively.

Mr Chandio said that since the election commission had only 45 electoral symbols while there were 69 seats (candidates) for the KMC, the election commission would have to conduct elections through balloting without having the required number of separate electoral symbols.

He said the Sindh government did not want to disturb the schedule of the election commission and hence a bill was tabled and passed in the provincial assembly.

In reply to a question, he said it seemed to be the manifesto of the opposition in Sindh to keep their opponents as disturbed as they themselves were.

In response to a question Murtaza Wahab said that before completion of the two months extension period in powers of the Rangers, which were granted on Dec 5 last by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, efforts were being made to resolve the issue amicably. He said he hoped that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would visit Sindh soon as per a directive of the prime minister.

In reply to another question, he said that if the opposition had any objection to the local government amendment bill, they could approach court, but warned that going to court might delay mayoral elections.

Karachi PPP president Najme Alam claimed that the MQM could not form its local government in three districts of Karachi.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2016