• LG dept forms four-member inquiry committee
• MQM-P calls move retaliation after PPP’s defeat in CBA elections
• Slams targeting of urban workforce instead of ensuring transparency across Sindh’s municipal bodies

KARACHI: A new political storm is brewing in the city as the Sindh Local Government Department has constituted a four-member inquiry committee to investigate alleged illegal appointments in the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), prompting a sharp and immediate backlash from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

The committee, formed on the directives of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), will probe questionable recruitment made during the era of the former city district government Karachi.

According to a notification, the special secretary for housing and town planning has been appointed as the committee’s head, while the additional secretary for LG, the municipal commissioner of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the director general of the KDA are also part of the team.

The committee has been tasked with submitting a report within 15 days.

The move comes just days after MQM-P secured a decisive victory in the KDA Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) elections — a win that the party claims has triggered a wave of political retaliation from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government.

In a strongly worded statement issued on Sunday, MQM-P’s Central Committee condemned the formation of what it described as a “biased and politically motivated” inquiry committee.

The party alleged that the PPP, reeling from its defeat in the CBA elections, is using the inquiry as a tool to undermine the mandate given to MQM-P by KDA workers and to target employees affiliated with the party.

“The timing of this committee raises serious questions. Instead of ensuring transparency across Sindh’s municipal institutions, the Sindh government is selectively targeting Karachi’s urban workforce. This is clear discrimination,” the statement said.

The MQM-P leaders argued that if the Sindh government truly wanted fair accountability, it should launch similar inquiries across all municipal corporations and development authorities in the province, rather than singling out the KDA.

The party said the inquiry appeared designed to delegitimise the outcome of the union elections and suppress the political voice of Karachi’s urban populace.

“This is nothing but political victimisation and an attempt to steal the mandate given by KDA workers to MQM-P. Karachi’s institutions are being weakened and its workforce demoralised under the guise of accountability,” the statement added.

The MQM-P also warned of a strong public and political response, declaring it would not accept any “anti-labour” decisions or actions that threaten the autonomy and functioning of Karachi’s key development bodies.

Meanwhile, government officials maintain that the inquiry is part of a broader accountability process following the PAC’s earlier findings, which had declared several appointments in the KDA illegal.

They insist the probe is not politically motivated and is aimed purely at identifying procedural violations and restoring transparency.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2025