KARACHI: Opposition lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan staged a rally from the Sindh Assembly building to the Supreme Court Karachi registry in protest over the recently enacted Sindh Local Gover­nment Act (SLGA) 2021 on Monday.

The protesters requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed to take up their separate constitutional petitions filed against the new LG law.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with different slogans including Kala Qanoon Na Manzoor [Black law unacceptable], the lawmakers — led by Bilal Abdul Gaffar and Kanwar Naveed Jameel, the parliamentary parties’ leaders of the PTI and MQM-P, respectively — first staged a demonstration at the Sindh Assembly building and then marched on the SC Karachi registry.

PTI, MQM-P appeal to chief justice to take up their petitions against LG system in Sindh for hearing

Speaking on the occasion, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh termed SLGA 2013 and subsequent amendments in the act in 2021 as violation of the Constitution.

He said that the law had deprived local governments from their statuary rights and authority guaranteed under Articles 7, 8, 32 and 140-A of the Constitution.

Mr Sheikh said that both the PTI and MQM-P had filed separate constitutional petitions but these were still pending before the apex court. He said in the PTI’s petition Prime Minister and party chairman Imran Khan and secretary general Asad Umer were the petitioners.

He appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to fix the petitions for hearing on an emergency basis and decide the cases so that local government system in Sindh could get its constitutional powers and functions.

“We as the people’s representative have gathered here in a peaceful manner without disrupting court proceedings and creating obstacles to traffic just to raise our voice against extra-constitutional steps of the Pakistan Peoples Party and to request the chief justice to fix the relevant petitions for hearing,” he said.

He alleged that the PPP in view of its majority in the provincial assembly was passing “unconstitutional laws and suppressing basic human rights of people”.

“PPP in Sindh developed an anti-judiciary narrative and their ministers, advisers and legislators were making statements in public and openly criticising orders and decisions of higher courts,” he said.

Kanwar Naveed of the MQM-P said that his party had in 2017 filed a constitutional petition against the LG law of 2013 in the Supreme Court requesting it to interpret Article 140-A of the Constitution as that article had direct relevance to the life of masses.

“The masses in the entire province are suffering due to suppressive legislation and local government are deprived of their basic functions and authority,” he said and appealed to the apex court to fix their petition for hearing.

Mr Gaffar of the PTI said that Article 140-A provided for administrative, financial and political empowerment of the third tier of the government and PTI intended to empower the local government organisations in accordance with the constitutional provisions so that people could be able to get all basic facilities.

“People of Sindh are deprived of basic civic amenities including clean drinking water, sanitation, basic health and primary education due to limited role and constrained authority of local governments,” he said and suggested that issues of people of Sindh could not be resolved till devolution of powers as well as resources at the grassroots level.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2021