KARACHI: After the formation of a house select committee comprising lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to hold deliberations for finalising the new local government law, the province is likely to witness LG elections in May two years after the expiry of the tenure of the last elected municipal set-up, Dawn learnt on Friday.

The hint of the next LG polls in Sindh came from the top that also suggested that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government had done its homework and it’s only a matter of weeks that a formal announcement would come from the relevant authorities.

“We don’t have any issue at our end as there are only legal and administrative formalities that take time,” Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in a conversation with Dawn.

Responding to a question about his assessment about the expected schedule of the LG polls, he didn’t take too much time to respond.

Chief secy to convey province’s preparedness to Election Commission soon

“The elections are to be held in two phases. So I think the first phase can be held in the third week of May and then the second one in the first week of June,” he said, adding: “We all know that before these two months, there would be Ramazan. So there would be a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan in the next few days where the chief secretary will take up our case.”

The Sindh cabinet earlier this week had approved further amendments to the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill, making next Karachi mayor a member of the governing bodies of city development authorities and the chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.

The participants in the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah discussed a proposal presented by the local government department that the mayor of Karachi might be appointed as a member of the governing bodies of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Malir Development Authority (MDA) and Lyari Development Authority (LDA).

It was also proposed that the mayor should be appointed as the KWSB chairman. Similarly, the mayor or chairman of other districts might also be made a member of governing bodies of the development authorities where they exist.

The amendments came after the PPP government promised to take up the concerns of the opposition parties following a 29-day protest sit-in by Jamaat-i-Islami outside the Sindh Assembly. The Pak Sarzameen Party also took to streets and staged a sit-in for a week near Fawara Chowk.

However, the further amendments to the law only succeeded in convincing the JI while other opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the PSP have rejected the move. But, in a thaw, the Sindh Assembly had formed a 19-member select committee to hold deliberations on the new LG law.

But the recent proposals shared by the chief minister leave little space for opposition parties for protest and push them to get themselves ready for the polls.

“There’s always a room and space for dialogue in the democratic process,” the CM told Dawn when asked about the opposition’s reaction to further amendments. “That’s the reason that we heard them and responded positively. Then came the orders of the Supreme Court and we also incorporated all those amendments which were directed by the apex court. And then in the [Sindh] assembly when we preferred to refer all this to the 19-member select committee, in which nine members are from opposition parties. So that’s what democracy is. It’s about inclusivity despite differences.”

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2022