PM Shehbaz Forms Committee on Local Government Reforms, MQM-P Missing Workers Issue

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued instructions to form a special committee to further empower local governments and progress on the issue of missing workers of MQM Pakistan, which is being described as a major development in political circles.

In a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on Tuesday, the MQM Pakistan delegation put forward several important points, including issues of urban Sindh, development projects, powers of local governments and issues of missing workers, before the Prime Minister.

The delegation was led by MQM Pakistan Chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, while Federal Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar and Syed Aminul Haq also attended the meeting.

According to sources, the Prime Minister listened carefully to the delegation’s concerns and directed the formation of a committee to take forward consultations on the proposed constitutional amendment to strengthen the local government system. The committee will include four representatives each from the government and MQM Pakistan.

MQM Pakistan is of the view that the real implementation of Article 140-A of the Constitution is indispensable for the establishment of an empowered local government system in the country. According to party leaders, now several political parties in the parliament also seem to support this stance, which has created hope for a broad political consensus.

During the meeting, special development packages for urban Sindh, improvement of infrastructure, provision of basic amenities and early completion of ongoing development projects were also discussed. The delegation demanded that the federal government include the development of urban Sindh among national priorities.

Progress was also made on the issue of missing workers. The Prime Minister issued instructions to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence to review the concerns of MQM Pakistan and increase contacts for a possible solution.

MQM Pakistan leaders described the meeting as positive, saying that for the first time after many years, serious progress seems to be being made on their important demands.

According to political observers, if consensus is reached on the proposed constitutional amendment, it could prove to be a major change in Pakistan’s local government system, paving the way for decentralisation of powers and resources to the grassroots level.