Sindh Assembly passes local government amendment bill 2021

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2021, ARY News reported.

Sindh Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussian Shah presented the bill in the provincial assembly.

Opposition parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) opposed the new local government bill.

The bill was moved in the assembly after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari approved the new LG system.

Under the new bill, District Councils and Municipal Corporations (DMCs) will be abolished in Karachi and a town system would be restored in each division of the province.

Karachi will be divided into more than 25 towns under the new LG system, according to a bill.

READ: SINDH GOVT NOT SERIOUS IN HOLDING LG POLLS: ECP

The new local government system will give more powers to elected mayor and union council chairman, according to a draft.

Sources said that recommendations of opposition parties including Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have been made part of new local bodies bill.

On November 15, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed the federal and Sindh governments to carry out necessary legislation and other acts for the delimitation process ahead of the local bodies elections.

The ECP while announcing its reserved verdict on local bodies polls in Islamabad directed the federal government to issue a notification for local bodies elections in 10 days.

The government should provide necessary data and documents pertaining to polls immediately and in case of a delayed notification, the ECP said that it would begin the delimitation process on its own.