Karachi, Jan 22 (PTI) A Pakistani minister on Thursday urged the government to declare Karachi a federal territory and designate it as the country's “financial capital”, citing governance failures and recurring
tragedies in the metropolis.
Addressing a press conference here in the wake of the deadly Gul Plaza shopping centre fire, National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Minister Mustafa Kamal called on the central government to assume greater administrative control over the city under Articles 148 and 149 of the Constitution.
The recent inferno has so far claimed 61 lives, with dozens still feared trapped under the debris.
Article 148 outlines obligations between the federation and provinces, while Article 149 empowers the federal government to issue directives to provinces to avert threats to peace, public order or economic life.
Taking a dig at the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader said given Karachi’s potential and its role in running the country’s economy, "it cannot be left to such a provincial administration”.
Kamal said it was high time that the government declare Karachi a federal territory.
The MQM-P is part of the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“We have an administrative capital, but Karachi should be made the financial capital,” Kamal said, adding that the broader debate on provincial restructuring could be addressed later.
He alleged that the city's current administration was “disenfranchising” residents and “turning people against the state”, warning that such conditions could benefit Pakistan’s adversaries.
Kamal, a former mayor of Karachi, also criticised the implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, under which powers were devolved from the federation to the provinces, claiming it had been misused in Sindh over the past 18 years.
He questioned how many more tragedies the city’s residents would have to endure before meaningful reforms were undertaken.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and commercial hub, was governed by the MQM for a number of years between 1989 and 2007 before it was splintered into factions. PTI CORR SCY SCY
