KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal on Sunday threw his weight behind Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar and asked the Sindh chief minister to return all local government functions that had been taken over by the provincial government to the mayor.

“It is not the job of the chief minister to resolve the problems of sewerage, roads, primary schools, and dispensaries,” said Mr Kamal at a press conference here at his party’s headquarters in PECHS.

“In the whole world, local government institutions are responsible for such issues, but here the CM inaugurates campaigns to clean storm-water drains and garbage lifting.”

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Mr Akhtar have persistently been demanding that the functions of the solid waste management, water supply, building control, master plan, etc, be returned to the Karachi mayor so that he can play an effective role in resolving problems of the metropolis.

While Mr Kamal is a strong proponent of an empowered local government system, it is for the first time that he has raised his voice in such a strong manner for powers for the Karachi mayor, who is a nominee of his nemesis, the MQM.

Kamal says cleaning storm drains and garbage lifting not the CM’s job

The PSP chairman, who was Mr Akhtar’s predecessor and an empowered mayor of the now defunct Karachi city government for around five years, asked the CM what he would do if the prime minister took over all his powers.

Without naming Mayor Akhtar, he asked the CM to return all mayoral powers that had been taken over by the provincial government to the Karachi mayor and restrict himself to a supervisory role.

He said not only in Karachi but LG institutions all over the country must be empowered in accordance with Article 140-A of the Constitution.

Around 300 activists join PSP

Accompanied by PSP president Anis Kaimkhani and secretary general Raza Haroon, Mr Kamal said around 300 political activists had joined his party following its January 29 public meeting at Tibet Centre.

He said that besides 207 local office-bearers of the MQM, activists of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, MQM-Haqiqi, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Sunni Tehreek, Awami National Party and All Pakistan Muslim League also joined the PSP.

He said that he had given a 30-day deadline to the government to resolve problems of Karachi in the public meeting. He said that the countdown had already begun.

“We do not want confrontation and we will not adopt any unconstitutional or undemocratic way.”

Talking about the forthcoming population census, he said that this major exercise should not be politicised. “A major chunk of our population has been moved to urban areas so it is very important for the future of Pakistan to know the exact number of people in all provinces.”

Earlier, he said the PSP wanted the resolution of the issue of Kashmir as per the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and it would continue to support them.

Published in Dawn February 6th, 2017