Islamabad is warming up to Chinese investment as winter grows intense. The opening up of CPEC economic zone in Faisalabad is projected to create 30,000 jobs, which is a big number. A delegation of the Chinese government met Islamabad Deputy Mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi to discuss similar issues. In China, city governments are strong and are direct shareholders in the Belt and Road initiatives, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Chinese cities and provinces create business opportunities, earn profits and make life comfortable for their residents. Keeping in mind their own mode of success, they value city mayors and municipalities highly. But Pakistan has a different story. It has politicised city mayors and municipalities to the extent that they have turned dysfunctional. The mayors that the government thinks can work for its political benefit get the power needed to run the cities. Others do not. The office of the mayor of Islamabad is considered unfriendly by the government; hence, it fails to get a positive working environment. The city mayor has support of PML-N, which is in opposition now. The clash between PML-N and PTI is getting deeper by the day.
As a result, the quality of services is being affected in Islamabad. Mayors are supposed to greet state guests and negotiate business deals with them in addition to creating opportunities to generate funds. When the central government locks itself in political bickering, the system suffers. At a time when Chinese officials were meeting the Islamabad deputy mayor to talk business, the latter would have had second thoughts about each and every word spoken. He could not be sure if the government would own the commitments he made with foreign dignitaries. Prime Minister Imran Khan has said time and again that he is inspired by the Chinese model. He must have known that city governments take the centre stage in this model of development and governance. Hence, he may be well advised to stop flirting with the idea of changing laws for city governments to benefit political allies. He rather should work to strengthen these governments so they are able to generate business and work for improvement in an already challenging economic situation. *