THE prime minister’s brief visit to Karachi on Tuesday once again laid bare the frosty relations between the federal and Sindh governments. Imran Khan took a round of the Karachi shipyard and chaired meetings focusing on the city’s development, while he also attended events in the neighbouring Lasbela district in Balochistan.

However, the PPP that rules Sindh claimed that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was not invited to any of Mr Khan’s engagements in Karachi. In fact, the Sindh government said it was ‘unaware’ of the prime ministerial visit. On the other hand, a handout from the Prime Minister’s Office said Mr Khan chaired a meeting regarding the Karachi Transformation Plan. These statements highlight the wide gap that exists between the centre and the Sindh administration, which ultimately has an effect on the drive to rehabilitate Karachi, as efforts are stymied by politics.

Editorial: It is obvious there is no love lost between the PPP and the PTI

If it is true that the Sindh government — particularly the chief minister — was kept out of the loop regarding Mr Khan’s Karachi visit intentionally, then this attitude on the part of the centre is unacceptable. The PTI-led federal government should not ignore the Sindh administration and attempt to rule Karachi through fiats. This will only create bad blood between the centre and Sindh, while also undermining the spirit of the 18th Amendment. That said, the Sindh government must also keep its channels with Islamabad open and pledge to work together with the centre in order to fix Karachi’s many problems.

The city is in a shambolic state, and it will require the combined efforts, funds and planning of the federal, Sindh and local governments to bring the metropolis into the 21st century. Indeed, the PTI has a responsibility to work for Karachi as the city gave it a heavy mandate in the last general elections, returning over a dozen representatives to the National Assembly. But this does not mean that the centre should bypass the provincial administration. Funds and expertise are needed from both the centre and the province to help transform Karachi, while the executing agency should be the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation headed by an elected, empowered mayor answerable to the people of the city. Efforts by the federal and Sindh governments to micromanage the city are unlikely to create the positive change Karachi needs. For its part, the Sindh government can do much to improve the metropolis by giving it a functioning and empowered LG system.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2021