THE opposition in the National Assembly is terming the new local government bill as the ‘black law’ but PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Monday, came out with a strong and eloquent defence of the legislation asserting that the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would empower the local bodies politically and financially.
At a news conference in Karachi, he gave convincing arguments against objections raised by the political opponents of the PPP and highlighted different aspects of the new system in an easy to understand language.
The way Bilawal responded to the opposition’s criticism on a delicate issue has further enhanced the stature of the PPP leader, who has transformed himself into a mature politician during the last few years.
His articulate presentation and perfect handling of questions during the news conference must be reassuring for the party that its leader is now proficient in language and has the ability to comprehend issues in their right perspective and put across his point of view coherently.
The provincial opposition is in an upbeat mood to agitate the issue despite passage of the law twice by the Sindh Assembly as it has announced to organize the protest outside the Assembly on December 19 in an attempt to pressurize the provincial government to withdraw the bill.
However, the case made by Bilawal has sent a loud and clear message to the people that the new system was aimed at genuinely empowering the local government institutions and this would, in turn, help resolve day-to-day problems of the masses in an expeditious and efficient manner.
The PPP Chairman legitimately took pride in claiming that new local government law was better than the local government law of Punjab, Islamabad and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa together because Sindh has given more powers to local bodies than other provinces.
Resource constraints were most important issue in the working of the LG system and the decision of Sindh to allow LB institutions to collect property tax would go a long way in empowering them financially.
Similarly, LGs would have a say in the working of police, health and educational institutions, agriculture department, livestock, sports and differently abled persons and this would be a step towards realization of the cherished goal of good governance.
Instead of indulging in political point scoring, the opposition should better cooperate in the fullest implementation of the system proposed in the new legislation and based on practical experience, amendments can always be made in future.
