KARACHI -  Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal on Sunday urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to devolve powers to the grassroots according to Article 140-A of the Constitution.

He said it was not the duty of the prime minister to resolve municipal issues, as worldwide these works come under the purview of the local government.

Kamal expressed these views while addressing a press conference at Pakistan House. PSP leaders Anis Qaimkhani, Raza Haroon and others were also present on the occasion.

Talking about various issues facing Karachi, he said that it had become a trend that the chief minister of the province was inaugurating cleanliness work in the province. This practice should be stopped and rulers should transfer powers to the local government, as it is the only way to bring improvement in the system. He urged PM Nawaz to form a Provincial Finance Commission similar to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award to accommodate the local government with an aim to provide relief to the masses.

He told the media that people from all walks of life were joining the party ranks after a historic power show of the PSP at Tibet Centre. He said that about 300 political workers affiliated with MQM-Pakistan, PTI, Sunni Tehreek, MQM-Haqqiqi, PML-Functional, ANP and APML had joined his party.

He said that during the party’s public gathering “we gave a 30-day ultimatum to the federal, provincial and local governments to resolve the issue facing Karachi. The PSP leadership is counting the days and after the given timeframe the party will fight the case of Karachi.”

“We are not going to practice any unconstitutional act and nor want any fight,” said Kamal. “We want solution to problems,” he added.

Talking about the upcoming census, the PSP chairman said the government should conduct it in a transparent manner, as real counting would help rulers distribute resources according to population. He said that urbanisation was being witnessed across the world. In Pakistan, he said, people were moving to cities. Instead of going by assumptions, he said, the rulers should go by actual figures.