Never talked about making Karachi a province: Farogh
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Farogh Naseem said that he never talked about making Karachi a province.
Speaking to the journalists, the federal law minister mentioned that many things have been falsely attributed to his name. “I talked about to give authority to local government in Sindh but not talked to making Karachi a province,” he said.
“Only those people, who do not want to see the issues of the poor people of the metropolis resolved, are talking about it,” Farogh Naseem explained. “Whatever has been done with the poor people of Sindh is in front of everyone. There is garbage lying everywhere in Sindh. We can approach the Supreme Court against the Sindh government as it is not implementing the apex court’s order regarding the Sindh Solid Waste Management.”
The law minister said that the there is garbage all over Sindh and the provincial government is not implementing the order of Supreme Court regarding solid waste management.
“Article 149 (4) does not talk about governor’s rule. The article can provide direction to the central and provincial governments,” Barrister Farogh said. “Prime Minister Imran Khan does not desire corruption, instead he wants the local government to be effective,” he added.
“I have talked about empowering the local government in Sindh. Imran Khan is serious about the people of Sindh. Karachi is the economic engine of Pakistan which is it needs to be improved,” he said.
“We do not want to separate Karachi from Sindh. Empowering the local government is in the Constitution. First, there was a 12-member committee… now there is a 17-member committee. TORs have not yet been made.”
Federal govt decides to take over administrative control of Karachi
A key progress in the politics of Sindh as the federal government decided to take over the administrative control of Karachi.
Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem disclosed that the federal government is considering taking over the administrative control of Karachi by invoking Article 149(4) in Karachi.
“The federation must take the administrative control of Karachi city for better administration. The strategic committee on Karachi was going to recommend to Prime Minister Imran Khan to invoke Article 149 for the uplift of Karachi,” the law minister informed.
What is Article 149(4) about administrative control
“The executive authority of the Federation shall also extend to the giving of directions to a province as to the manner in which the executive authority thereof is to be exercised for the purpose of preventing any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity or economic life of Pakistan or any part thereof,” Article 149(4) states.Federal govt cannot take over control of Karachi’s affairs
Responding to Federal Law Minister Frogh Naseem, Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani said that the federal government cannot take control over the Karachi’s affairs.
“Article 149 (4) does not authorize for taking over control the Karachi’s affairs,” the provincial minister said while talking to the 92 News. He also said that the centre can only give the directions but not take the control of provincial matters.
Saeed Ghani also suggested the federal government that Article 149 (4) should be enforced in Punjab or in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where law and order situation and economy were not good as compared to Sindh.
