ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Wednesday demanded that local governments (LGs) be given autonomy in the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment.
After the PPP revealed key features of the proposed amendment for which the government sought its support, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said yesterday that the legislation for the tweaks will soon be tabled in Parliament.
MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar presented his party’s demand today while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, alongside party leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
Sattar asserted that after provincial autonomy had been granted under the 18th Amendment of 2010, the “next step naturally is local autonomy, so it’s turn must come”.
“The important thing that we also said at the time of the 26th Amendment, that our constitutional amendment package be included,” he said, referring to its agreement with the PML-N to empower local governments.
“But it did not happen,” Sattar lamented, calling for the matter to be included in the 27th Amendment.
The PML-N and the MQM-P had signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2024 under which LGs would draw powers directly draw powers from the federation instead of provinces.
When talks of the 26th Amendment gained momentum, the MQM-P also tied its support for the legislation to the inclusion of LG-related provisions. However, the final version — passed with MQM-P lawmakers voting in its favour — featured no such provisions.
Sattar contended that the Constitution’s Article 140A, which provides that the provinces will establish LGs, needed to be amended so that laws enacted by local bodies would not contradict it.
“The Constitution is a sacred document, but not a divine scripture; it is a living document,” the MNA contended. He added that it should not bring worry or surprise if amendments were needed in it “as per the requirements of the time and situation, and for the country’s stability”.
Sattar also voiced support for constitutional courts, which were initially planned to be formed through the 26th Amendment but only constitutional benches were established in the end.
Meanwhile, about the proposed Constitutional tweaks, Siddiqui said: “We are only telling the key features, and have presented what the government told us and what we understood.
“Even from us, especially Article 243 … this year has created the need for it to be harmonised with national unity, strong defence, and modern requirements of defence,” he said, referring to the provision related to the command of armed forces.
Siddiqui called for local governments to also be “considered a government”, with the Constitution guaranteeing nazims and mayors’ elections and tenures, without the prime minister needing to issue orders for it.
“The Constitution should decide that. The Supreme Court should monitor it,” the education minister said, proposing a caretaker set-up for the two roles.
