KARACHI, Aug 24: Another meeting of the core committee of the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was held on Friday to discuss various clauses of a proposed local government bill to be tabled in the Sindh Assembly soon.

The meeting was held at the Chief Minister’s House and senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Rafique Engineer represented the PPP.

The MQM team comprised federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar, Member of the Sindh Assembly Syed Sardar Ahmed, Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed and Wasey Jalil.

While the contentious issue of arming the future local governments with functions of the revenue, police, health and some other departments was yet to be resolved, a PPI news agency report quoting a handout issued from the CM House said that the meeting discussed “various sections of the proposed Local Government Act, 2012 and agreed on many points”.

MQM leader Wasey Jalil said that in the Friday meeting both parties discussed matters relating to the new LG system.

However, no date was given for the next meeting of the core committee and Mr Jalil added that it might be held next week.

In several sessions of the PPP-MQM core committee, the two parties gave a clause-by-clause reading of the drafts submitted by them to each other regarding the future LG system in the province.

The two parties had agreed to introduce a system of metropolitan government, to be headed by a mayor, in Karachi and four other big cities of Sindh.

However, it was yet to be decided whether these metropolitan governments would enjoy the same powers that had been envisaged in the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001. The MQM wanted more powers for the local governments, as it wanted the

police department, revenue officials, etc to be placed under the control of an elected mayor.

However, the PPP side opposed the idea and wanted to introduce a system similar to the SLGO, 1979 in which local governments were given municipal responsibilities only.