METROPOLITAN cities around the world, like, say, London and New York, have elected mayors. In fact, we often copy the West in just about every matter, and one wonders why we have never had an elected mayor for Islamabad, which over the years has grown into a huge, sprawling metropolis.

An elected mayor and members of the elected municipal committees and union councils should be made responsible for all policy matters pertaining to the capital, and be delegated with financial matters as well.

It has been observed in the recent past that there is a lot of overlapping and infighting within the administrative machinery of Islamabad, with ongoing projects suffering or getting inordinately delayed. This needs to end.

Hence, it is advisable that the office of a full-time elected mayor answerable to the constituents be established and then made fully functional. Besides, the person elected should be empowered to run the affairs of the capital in a truly democratically elected manner. The tradition of leaving the matters to the dictate, discretion and whims of an individual or institution not answerable to anyone other than the appointing authority must be done away with immediately.

Khaled
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024