PPP should have the Mayor in Karachi
Karachi deserves the kind of progress and development delivered by PPP in meerpoor maathelo, sanghaR, laRkana and pretty much the entire rural sind is a beacon of modern day municipal success, so why should Karachi be denied?
MQM has many haters and as Hassan Nisar, a very prominent intellectual has said on many occasions that if you judge MQM on American and European standard then they absolutely fall short but if you consider the context in which they exist, they fair much better then the rocket scientists we have as alternatives. it becomes a no-brainer for karachiites to pick them when the other option to manage Karachi is Qayim Ali shah and uzair baloch’ party,
The new local government Ordinance which has recently been shoved down the urban population of sind is a travesty and PPP is really playing with fire. If this controversial ordinance becomes the law of the land and Local bodies election are held under this ordinance, you can rest assured that the harmony or the calm between urban and rural population will be adversely affected. This would be the last thing that Pakistan as a country can afford right now. All eyes are now on the courts and the hope is that sense prevails.
MQM obviously has a vested interest to get as big of a piece of the pie as possible for the urban center. Since PPP’ mandate is primarily in rural areas and outskirts of Karachi, they would want maximum resources for their constituencies. In this tug of war however, its understandable if some liberties are taken with fairness by the PPP since they have the numbers game on their side in sind assembly. However what they have done here is not liberty, its outright rape of Urban mandate.
The way this ordinance stands right now, some constituencies in Karachi will enjoy the same weightage when it comes to electing the Mayor, even though their constituency comprise of 2000 voters as oppose to 50000 in other constituencies of Karachi. I am not suggesting that ALL constituencies need to be identical but a variance of 15-20% is one thing, 500% is quite another. This is an unreal disparity and PPP might be able to get a Mayor elected thru these shenanigans but they should know that urban center of sind will not take this lying down. There will be an immense sense of depravation and it will give credence to voices for another province. I for one don’t think Pakistan can afford urban and rural sind fighting along these linguistic lines BUT Urban centers can not be bulldozed merely on the basis of majority in provincial assembly.
The other issue with this Local government ordinance is that of control on finances. As it stands right now, elected municipal bodies will be perpetually begging at the doorsteps of either bureaucracy appointed by the provincial government or the provincial ministers.
This completely defies that entire purpose of empowerment at the nursery level of democracy and encourages cartelization. It also defies common sense. Why is the fate of sewerage and infrastructure of lalookhayt Karachi is at the mercy of someone who has never stepped foot in that area?
There has got to be fairness otherwise there will be mutiny. Karachiites are not rollovers nor are they pacifist and they will stand up for their rights. This will mean chaos and unrest and when Karachi feels deprived, rest of the country will feel the brunt. Karachi is the financial nerve-center of Pakistan and even though seemingly muslim league n doesn’t have a dog in this fight, they must understand that Pakistan’ economy will take a huge hit IF citizens of Karachi are marginalized in this draconian manner.
It seems like the heels are dug in and the last hope rests with the courts. Lets hope the sense prevails and justice is done not just to the urban centres but across the board.
