S R H Hashmi
THERE is quite an informative article titled ‘Overhauling Karachi by consensus’ by retired Lt Col Muhammad Usman in the September 9 issue of this newspaper. The writer ably explained in a nutshell the right approach to handling the Karachi situation, saying, in his concluding paragraph: “A leader does right things particularly, when time is taxing and margin is narrow. A consensus may do trick when sea is calm but would falter when there is turbulence. Most of the challenges faced by Pakistan are of such character and magnitude and Karachi is identical one. It is on brink. A therapy or patchwork would not pull it back. A wholesale transformation is the need which is not a function of a body by consensus but of leadership.” Unfortunately, Imran Khan has failed so far to show the leadership qualities that the occasion demands. Also, he seems to have little control over his party members who talk their mind freely and openly, with party discipline non-existent. And to add to that, Imran Khan seems to lack a sense of proportion, which makes him incapable of allocating required level of time and attention to particular issues. And this was clearly proved by the fact that while the army chief managed to spend two days in Karachi, Imran Khan’s twice delayed visit lasted just one day.
And how faulty was the paper work and the presentation of the package, can be judged from the fact that the very next day, controversy developed as to how much of the Rs 1.1 trillion of the transformation package was to be contributed by the federal and the provincial governments, with each party calling the other a liar. Also, knowing the reputation of Zardari-owned-and-operated Peoples Party for corruption, Shibli Faraz kept insisting, and in quite an insulting manner, that the package funds will not be handed over to Peoples Party.. And since the tenure of the powerless Sindh local government had ended, the package had to be implemented by administrators. And to ensure the transparency in the expenditure, it was absolutely essential to appoint independent and capable administrators. However, Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah had kept insisting that the administrators will be appointed by his government. And true to his words, he did appoint a former Karachi commissioner, Dr. Iftikhar Shallwani as the Karachi administrator. And while the Sindh Governor Imran Ismael stated that Iftikhar Shallwani was a consensus candidate, Mutahidda Qaumi Movement rejected the impression, and stated categorically that the party was not consulted before the appointment of a local government caretaker set-up, Moreover, MQM-Pakistan convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui accused the Peoples Party government in the province of appointing bureaucrats of a particular ethnic origin as administrators of Karachi and other urban areas, saying by doing so the PPP itself endorsed the division of Sindh. If what MQM complains about is true, isn’t it surprising that with Karachi representing and hosting all ethnic groups in Pakistan, the Peoples Party government could not find any capable persons fit for the position of administrators except those of a particular ethnicity?
To get real worth of money spent, Karachi Transformation Package ought to have been implemented by a duly empowered city government, with the mayor exercising jurisdiction over the whole city, which is presently under the control of different bodies. However, the tenure of the lame-duck local government introduced by the Peoples Party is already over. Moreover, the Sindh government has expressed its inability to hold local bodies elections due to non-availability of the final report for 2017 national population census, without which delimitation can’t be done. It is shameful that the final report of the nine-year overdue census of 2017 has not been released yet. One possible reason is that because of its unsatisfactory performance so far, PTI fears losing out local bodies elections to PML-N, and wants to delay them as much as possible. As for Sindh government, it had clawed back even the powers that a military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf had given to local bodies. And that was the time when Karachi, under Mayor Mustafa Kamal, saw some real development. This clipping of powers of local bodies has exacerbated conditions not only in Karachi but throughout the Sindh province, where even basic civic facilities are non-existent. The Chief Justice of Pakistan recently stated that he has powers to adjudicate in case of disputes between the federal and provincial governments as also between the provinces. Moreover, like all Pakistanis, he also seems terribly worried about the decay of Karachi which seems to be endless and from which there seems to be no escape. It is claimed by some that the Peoples Party – which has ruled Sindh province continuously for the last twelve years – ignores Karachi because it gets scant votes from here. However, the fact is that it treats urban and rural Sindh with equal contempt.. In view of the above, and now that some possibility has emerged for the betterment of Karachi, I would request Chief Justice of Pakistan to direct the Sindh government to amend Sindh Local Government Act and legislate for the creation of ‘empowered’ local bodies – as required under Section 140-A of the Constitution – with Mayor for Karachi and other cities exercising jurisdiction over the whole of the city and all civic services. And then hold elections for the empowered local bodies which could provide much-needed relief to the people of Sindh. And to give Karachi its due share in finances, and provincial and national assembly seats, it is also vital to ascertain the true population of Karachi which is grossly under-estimated at 16 million while other sources quote different figures up to 35 million.
— The writer is senior political analyst based in Karachi.
