Till Sunday, it’s do or die for the local government

Major coalition government partners in Sindh – Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – held yet another meeting on Thursday to develop consensus on a new system of local governments in Sindh that is agreeable for both parties, but in the end it was decided that more sittings would be required on the issue. The meeting was held at the Sindh Chief Minister’s House, but Qaim Ali Shah was not present there as he is in Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj.
PPP’s Sindh Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ayaz Soomro, Archives and Special Development Minister Rafique Engineer attended the meeting, while from the MQM, Syed Sardar Ahmed, Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Wasay Jalil and MNA Wasim Akhtar among others were present.
No details of the meeting, including any formulas discussed about the new local government (LG) system, were revealed after the meeting, as no leader from the parties came forward to talk to the media that was waiting outside the Chief Minister’s House in anticipation of an important announcement.
One thing is clear however that whatever the new LG system may be, it will have to be enforced through another ordinance to be issued by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad before November 6.
The currently implemented Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SGLO) 2001 was restored through a governor’s ordinance around three months ago and is due to lapse on November 6 (Sunday) – a day before Eidul Azha. It was being expected that another LG system will be implemented in the province through the Sindh Assembly. Both parties had earlier planned to get the same LG system endorsed through the Sindh Assembly session before its expiry, however, they later withdrew from convening the legislative assembly’s session.
Formal legislation by the Sindh Assembly is necessary before the ordinance’s expiry because no ordinance can be extended or promulgated again after the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
But implementing the LG system through an ordinance would mean that its tenure cannot be more than three months.
At the meeting on Thursday, the leaders from both parties exchanged their views about the new LG system and now these formulas would be further discussed by the respective parties separately, according to Sindh Chief Minister’s House spokesperson Allah Bachayo Memon.
It is worth mentioning that after the first MQM and PPP meeting held last Tuesday, the leaders had said that they have agreed on bringing a new LG system for which a formula will be finalised in another meeting.
During the second meeting, both the parties reiterated upon their opinions that the new LG system will be as per expectations and aspirations of the people that will end urban and rural differences, according to an official handout.
“The new system will be called ‘Sindh Local Government System 2011’ which will soon be presented in the Sindh Assembly so that it is brought under legal cover,” the handout stated. At the same time, Sindh Chief Minister’s House spokesperson Allah Bachayo Memon stated that an assembly session cannot be convened before Eidul Azha as the chief minister is out of the country.
The handout stated that detailed discussions were held in the meeting and representatives from both the parties informed each other about their proposals and suggestions, while many other issues and aspects were also discussed in detail.
Later, it was decided to have meetings of respective leaders regarding all proposals and suggestions and then the delegations will again meet to finalise the matters.
Memon told Pakistan Today that the final meetings will be held before Eid; however, he made clear that the Sindh Assembly session will be held after Eidul Azha.