Karachi: First city council meeting marred by ruckus

• JI members also protest mayor's right to hold office. 
• "Opposition not on side of development," says Wahab.
• PPP wants to "plunder" Karachi's resources: JI leader. 

KARACHI: The first meeting of the current Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) City Council was marred by ruckus as Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) members protested against the backdated approval of the KMC budget without the council's approval, The News reported Tuesday.

Moreover, during the meeting on Monday, the JI members also held up placards that implied that Mayor Murtaza Wahab had no 'moral justification' for holding his office, as he had usurped it rather than being genuinely elected.

According to a statement issued by the KMC, the meeting was held in the City Council Hall of the Old KMC Building with Wahab in the chair. Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad was also present on the occasion.

Two condolence and one condemnation resolutions were passed in the meeting.

Condolences were offered for the death of City Council member Farida Majeed and former federal minister Sher Muhammad Baloch.

A resolution condemning the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden was also passed as the council demanded that the ambassador of Sweden be expelled from the country.

Wahab welcomed all members of the City Council and expressed the hope that they would work for the city's betterment.

He said he would work in every union committee, and all council members, including those belonging to the JI, would be equally treated.

According to the statement, Wahab said he wanted to solve the problems of Karachi with understanding.

He added that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), JI, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other parties had to serve Karachi together.

Responding to the protests, he said shouting slogans did not help solve civic problems. He asked the City Council members whether they wanted the development of Karachi and solutions to its problems, such as water shortage and land encroachment.

PPP parliamentary leader Najmi Alam invited all the parties present to work together to develop Karachi, after which the mayor announced that the meeting was over.

Later, Wahab addressed a press conference at the Frere Hall in which he said he wanted to conduct the proceedings of the first meeting of the City Council with mutual understanding so that the problems of Karachi could be discussed.

However, he said, the opposition had proved that it was not on the side of development, prosperity and political maturity.

"If they allowed me, I would have told the City Council that we are doing water and sewerage works in Karachi at a cost of $1.6 billion and development works are going on vigorously to improve the infrastructure in different areas of the city.

"Once again, I invite Jamaat-e-Islami to end the politics of differences and adopt a constructive way of thinking and join hands with us in the construction and development of the city," he said.

The deputy mayor, PPP District South Secretary General Karamullah Waqasi and other elected representatives were also present.

Wahab said that earlier, a meeting of all parliamentary leaders in the City Council had been called to make a strategy for the development and improvement of the city.

He added that if he had wanted, he would not have invited JI leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to speak in the House, but he wanted to establish a good tradition.

He remarked that the entire Karachi had seen that one person wanted the city's destruction because of his ego.

He said Rehman was the Karachi emir of the JI, but he was acting as if he was the emir of the entire country.

"The problem of this city is not Murtaza Wahab or Hafiz Naeem, but the maintenance of roads, parks, playgrounds, water supply and sewerage system."

The mayor added: "I announce today that every member of the City Council is equal to me and the deputy mayor. The development fund that will be given to the chairmen of the Peoples Party and Muslim League will also be given to the elected representatives of the Jamaat-e-Islami."

JI's statement

The JI also issued a statement to explain its stance over the protest in the first City Council meeting after the mayoral election.

The party said it protested over the administrator's approval of the budget for the municipality on June 17 in backdate despite the fact that the elections for the city mayor had already been held.

The JI demanded that the mayor present the budget to the City Council and get it approved by the elected local government representatives per the rules and regulations.

The statement read that the treasury side initially neglected the JI's demand and later muted the microphone of Rehman, after which its members in the council recorded a protest against the fascist behavior of the PPP.

The 'selected' mayor, instead of taking up issues, left the session in the middle, the JI claimed, adding that the council members belonging to the JI and other parties remained in the council and got a resolution approved in connection with the passage of the budget from the City Council.

Rehman also talked to the media after the meeting. He said just demands could not be suppressed by muting microphones.

He said that, on the one hand, the PPP had snatched the mandate of the people of Karachi and was muting the opposition's voices, and on the other hand, it was calling for a consensus on civic issues.

It seemed that the PPP considered Karachi just an opportunity to plunder resources, he added.

It should be a matter of grave shame and concern for the PPP that it was ruling over the province for over 15 years, and Karachi had been tagged as one of the worst cities in the world, the JI leader remarked.