The Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill is a draconian piece of legislation: Umar Asad

KARACHI — Asad Umar, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development, called the Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill a “dark law” on Sunday.

According to Asad Umar, the province’s status is deteriorating while its leadership are becoming wealthy. We want public officials to address issues that affect the general people, he stressed.

The Sindh Assembly had adopted the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill-2021 the day before, despite opposition protests.

Nasir Hussain Shah, the provincial LG minister, introduced an updated bill for the new LG system in the Sindh Assembly. Despite the fact that the session was hampered by sloganeering, the government legislators were able to pass the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill-2021.

When the law was given clause-by-clause approval in the chamber, opposition MPs tore up copies of the agenda.

According to the amending law, towns would be established in Sindh’s six divisional headquarters, including Karachi. A show of hands will be used to elect the leaders of municipalities and municipal committees. The requirement that chairpersons of local body councils be elected by secret ballot was removed.

Local government councils have been given authority in the affairs of nine provincial ministries, and local government councils will also be involved in the affairs of Sindh Police, according to the Local Government Amendment Bill.

According to the bill, the SSP would be required to communicate with the chairman of the local body in question, and police personnel will be required to report on police problems and law and order to the local council. Prosecutors, police officers, and criminal matters will not be handled by local government members.