Daily Times

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has decided to call an all parties conference (APC) to discuss the city, its problems, and matters related to Pakistan’s stability.

Speaking regarding on going matter in a press conference today, MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan said: “Karachi’s issues can neither be solved from Islamabad nor Larkana.”

Hassan demanded to empower the local bodies system in light of Article 140-A of the Constitution to address Karachi’s problems.

“Forming committees is not a solution to the challenges Pakistan’s financial capital faces”, MQM-P legislator in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan said

During press conference along with other leaders he also slammed Sindh chief minister for “sabotaging” the discussions on the committee.

The MQM-P leader said the Sindh government had divided the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) into many parts. “You have established the Karachi Development Authority and Sindh Building Control Authority. No development took place in the city,” he noted.

“The youth of Larkana cannot blame the MQM. Whenever PPP is held accountable it misguides the youth,” he said

He asked that if a metro is built in Larkana and the problems would be solved then we will be happy that the money has been spent on the people of Sindh but here the money is being stolen and going into the ministers’ account and government officials, he added

“By showing some pictures of the park and some roads, they are propagating and saying development is being made”, he stated

He said that the lack of clean drinking water and worst sewerage system in all over Sindh prove the failure of the Sindh government.

Speaking of the idea of the committee on civic issues, Hassan said the MQM-P party acted as a bridge between the traders’ fraternity and the government.

Before this the provincial government spokesperson, Senator Murtaza Wahab, had claimed the committee would comprise the PTI’s federal ministers Asad Umar and Ali Zaidi and IT and Telecom Minister Aminul Haque of the MQM, besides Sindh chief minister and provincial ministers Nasir Hussain Shah and Saeed Ghani.

“The committee will see that development work is carried out smoothly in the city and remove obstacles in this regard,” Wahab had said.

Later, in a video message, Nasir Shah had welcomed the approach of the three parties to work together, boasting that Sindh, including Karachi, had made record progress under the leadership of PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Despite all these CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah had said in a press conference on Monday he would not share powers with anyone. The idea of a committee was discussed but there was no formal agreement, he had added.

CM Murad also hit out at the PTI, saying that it was now “anxious” to sit with the Sindh government and talk about Karachi’s problems.

He alleged that the Centre was talking about the issues of Karachi to hide its failures at the international failure, hinting at the foreign minister’s recent statement on Saudi Arabia. He added that the situation of Karachi and other cities had been the same more or less because of the current spell of rains that had hit the country.