PPP, MQM reiterates resolve to work together to unanimously adopt LG law for serving people of Sindh

PPP, MQM reiterates resolve to work together to unanimously adopt LG law for serving people of Sindh

Karachi

The Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Quami Movement have expressed a unanimous resolve to work together for adopting such a local government law, which would be beneficial for the residents of both the urban and rural parts of the province.
The leaders of both the political parties expressed the unanimous resolve to this effect on Thursday while holding a joint press conference here at the Bahadurabad head office of MQM. Earlier, the two parties held talks at the same venue. The PPP was represented in the negotiations by Sindh Local Government Minister, Syed Nasir Husain Shah, Sindh Labour Minister, Saeed Ghani while MQM’s leaders Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Amir Khan, Waseem Akhtar, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Javed Hanif, and Khawaja Izharul Hassan were also present on the occasion.
While talking to media persons, the leaders of the two parties said that both the PPP and MQM had the resolve to work together for the sake of Sindh and rest of the country.
They said that both the parties had agreed to continue with their talks to further amend the provincial local government law.
They said the two parties had held talks in a cordial and pleasant manner as the meeting discussed in detail issues related to local government law and the prevailing water crisis in Sindh, particularly in Karachi.
The MQM leaders said on the occasion that the coordination committee of the party would make the final decision whether to join the Sindh government after the accord signed by them with the PPP before the change of government was implemented while amendments were also incorporated into the local government law.
MQM leader, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, said the meeting between the two parties had been held as part of the ongoing negotiations after MQM and PPP had signed the accord. He said that such meetings had been held in the past also and would continue to be held in the future as well.
He said the latest meeting had considered the suggestions earlier given by the MQM to improve the local government law.
He said that another round of talks had to be held between the two parties before finalising the amendments to the provincial local government law for presenting the same before Sindh Assembly for adoption.
He said that both the parties had the unanimous view that such legislation should be adopted, which proved beneficial not just for the residents of Karachi, and Hyderabad but also for the rural parts of the province.
Answering a question, Jameel said that before making any decision to join the Sindh government as a coalition partner, their preference was that accord between MQM and PPP was implemented while amendments were also made to the local government law.
Sindh Local Government Minister said the Sindh government would amend the provincial local government law in view of the directives of the Supreme Court and suggestions given by the MQM and other concerned political parties for the same cause.
He said the Sindh government had been holding talks with all the concerned political parties to improve the local government law. He said the negotiations also took into consideration the delimitation of the constituencies for the local government laws, development projects in urban parts of Sindh, setting up a university in Hyderabad, and a women’s university in the province.
He said the meeting also took into consideration water issues of Karachi and initiatives launched to overcome this problem including the K-IV project as the Sindh Chief Minister himself had chaired meetings to ensure that there should be equitable water distribution in the province.
The Local Government Minister reiterated the resolve of the Sindh government to overcome the prevailing water crisis in Karachi by introducing a fair mechanism to ensure uninterrupted water supply for residents of the city.
He said the PPP leaders Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari had shown big-heartedness for the development of both urban and rural areas of the province in larger interest of Sindh.
To a question, he said that they honoured the people who had laid down their lives on the tragic day of May 12, 2007 in Karachi as MQM also shared the same grief and sorrow.