KARACHI: Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani has asked all opposition parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, to come to the negotiating table to sort out differences over which local bodies system is better for the people of the province.
Mr Durrani, who was local government minister in the last Pakistan Peoples Party government, was responding to questions by a group of media men in the assembly building on Wednesday.
When his attention was drawn to MQM reservations over the implementation of the local bodies system of 1979 in the province through a notification, the speaker said the highest elected forum in the province was the best place to sort out differences rather than deciding the issue on the streets.
He said the LB system of 1979 was not the last word as necessary amendments could be effected to it for better delivery to the people.
The speaker said the PPP had the required strength in the house and could go for elections of local bodies within the next few months.
In reply to a question, he said people opposing the system had taken part in the elections under the very system and their nominee had served as the city mayor.
He reiterated that the doors of the government were open for negotiations over which system was better for Sindh.
Law and parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikander Mandhro asked the opposition to suggest amendments to it as any decision about a local bodies system could only be decided in the house.
In reply to a question, Dr Mandhro said the people did not favour the district government system of retired General Pervez Musharraf or the Peoples Local Government Act 2012.
“If the LBSO 79 could be amended in the past, it can further be amended and the opposition should submit its proposals for effecting amendments to it,” the law minister said.
When asked about the constitution of house committees, Dr Mandhro said a public accounts committee and standing committees would be formed in the next session.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced on Tuesday evening that all employees recruited in violation of rules in any government institution, including in the local bodies, would be stripped of their jobs after serving notices on them.
Mr Shah, according to an official handout, was talking to a delegation of elders from Qambar Shahdadkot, led by PPP leader and MNA Faryal Talpur. He said all such vacancies would be filled in a transparent manner.
He told the delegation that the government had allocated Rs7 billion for development schemes of Qambar Shahdadkot in the new budget and the amount was 108 per cent more than last year’s allocation for the district.