Opposition considers no-confidence motion against Karachi mayor

Opposition leader in the city council Saifuddin Advocate on Friday announced plans to move a no-confidence motion against Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, holding him and the Sindh government fully responsible for what he described as continued poor governance and repeated tragedies in the city.

Sindh and the city government have faced widespread criticism following the Gul Plaza inferno, which claimed the lives of 79 people, and calls have grown for Karachi’s mayor to resign from his post.

Following the incident, a heated war of words broke out between the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh, while inscriptions on the walls of several neighborhoods calling for placing the city under federal or military control further increased political tensions in the metropolis.

Read: 12 other victims of the Gul Plaza fire identified thanks to geolocation: Sindh police

Members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) staged a vigorous protest in the Sindh Assembly, criticizing government surveillance, alleging illegal constructions and demanding accountability from the Sindh Building Control Authority over the tragedy.

Addressing a packed press conference today, Saifuddin said Karachi remained in mourning after the Gul Plaza tragedy, but the ruling elite seemed indifferent to the public suffering and remained busy with exhibitions and ceremonial activities.

He said residents of Karachi were increasingly being forced to believe that the city had no guard, as incidents of neglect and lawlessness continued unabated.

Launching a scathing attack on the provincial government, the opposition leader said Karachi residents were being crushed under fuel trucks, killed due to dog bites and shot dead during resistance to theft while criminals roamed free.

“Governance does not mean holding meeting after meeting. Governance only becomes visible when institutions function on time,” he said, adding that a government could not claim its authority if firefighters did not respond in an emergency.

Learn more: Investigation reveals how Gul Plaza fire became death trap

Dismissing the inquiry report prepared under the supervision of the Karachi Commissioner into the Gul Plaza incident, Saifuddin termed it “fake” and questioned the credibility of the committee. “How can those guilty of negligence conduct an impartial investigation? he asked.

He alleged that the report attempted to cover up the facts and shield those responsible, and demanded a transparent investigation by the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court or a senior judge of the judiciary.

Read also: Karachi walls call for federal, military control as tensions rise after Gul Plaza fire

Holding the Karachi mayor directly responsible for the tragedy, Saifuddin said that while the funeral was taking place in the city, the mayor was in Islamabad attending events and inaugurating exhibitions.

“When a child falls into a gutter, the mayor inaugurates a swimming pool,” he explains.

He warned that if the PPP government failed to remove the mayor, the opposition would present a motion of no confidence against him, adding that preparations for the motion had already begun and contacts had been made with political parties represented in the municipal council, many of whom had assured their support.

Speaking on allegations of financial corruption and institutional decay, Saifuddin claimed that the PPP had failed to achieve Rs22 trillion in the last 17 years.

He said that under the Local Government Act 2013, key institutions of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) were taken over, thereby weakening the city government. He also criticized the separation of Rescue 1122 from the KMC and the merger of the fire brigade into it, calling the move a serious administrative error.

Outlining the opposition’s future course of action, he announced that the JI would hold a city-wide march on February 1 against misgovernance and injustice.

Expressing disappointment with the federal government and the MQM-P, he said the only solution to Karachi’s problems lay in an empowered and autonomous city government.