'Handicapped system': Karachi mayor will be powerless, says MQM
KARACHI: Days after a resounding victory in the local body polls, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who is yet to announce a name for the position, said the mayor of Karachi will have no power.
Speaking to media in Azizabad's Lal Qila ground, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said the country's largest city, Karachi, has been given an almost 'handicapped' local bodies system, rendering the mayor of a mega city 'powerless'.
He was of the view that the The Sindh Local Government Act 2013 leaves Karachi's mayor so weak that he cannot even order a cleanliness drive in the city.
"The city mayor will have to wait for a minister for the local bodies' approval to issue salaries to his subordinates," said the MQM leader.
Related: Flaws in Sindh LG law highlighted
he MQM leader said the people of Karachi reject this system as they do not want their mayor to be a 'beggar', adding that his party will take all theconstitutional and legal steps to ensure that the mayor gets his due powers.
"We expect all the other parties who claim to represent Karachi to support our efforts in this regard,"said Rizvi.
Waseem Akhtar, Incharge of MQM's Central Executive Committee said that Supreme Court should take suo motu notice on this issue.
"If the SC can force the government to hold local body polls, it can also arrange for the mayor to get his due powers," said Akhtar.