In a breakthrough for the people of Sindh, the provincial government has agreed to further amend the controversial Local Government Amendment Act 2022. In November last year, the PPP-led government had passed the law amid the opposition parties’ uproar only to make further amendments and pass it again in December. But this too was vehemently denounced by the opposition parties, who had declared it to be a ‘black law’, saying that it stripped the local body representatives of key administrative and financial powers. The Act had undoubtedly made local governments toothless by dissolving much of the powers previously given to municipal organisations and tightening the government’s control over local bodies.
It is then a sigh of relief that the PPP government has agreed to further amend the Act. Some of the concerns that have already been addressed include: handing back all departments of the education and health sectors to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC); making Karachi mayor chairperson of the Water and Sewerage Board; and forming the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) board within 30 days after the LG elections. The agreement was made between the ruling PPP and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the wee hours of Thursday night, following which the JI called off its protests that were scheduled to be held on Friday in different areas of Karachi, while also announcing an end to its almost month-long sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly.
However, it is also important to note that the Sindh government’s change of heart came after hundreds sat on the street in cold Karachi nights for 29-days and after MQM-P workers were brutally baton-charged by police officials just a day before. One of them had also lost his life, owing to police brutality – a death the Sindh information minister attributes to a heart attack. The ruling PPP must ensure that such an incidence of violence isn’t repeated and should stay true to its words of holding further talks with the opposition to iron out differences on remaining clauses. The local body act should be formed by consulting all stakeholders and it must address the many issues the province is faced with. After all, only an empowered local government system can pave the way for any democracy to flourish.
