KARACHI   -   Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Sunday that the system of local government should be fully empowered and government is going to announce an empowered local government system in Islamabad and Punjab.

Addressing the All Stake-Holders Conference Sindh hosted by Pakistan Tehreek Insaf in Karachi, he said PTI leadership is ready to sit with the Sindh government to resolve the problems of the province.

He said empowering the provinces alone will not solve the problems unless the powers are given to the lower levels. Minister for Planning said that the problems of the cities will not be solved until the local governments are empowered.

Federal Minister said the voice of the people living in Karachi should also be heard. We will raise our voice at every forum for the solution to Karachi’s problems. Asad Umar said the constitution says that democracy is incomplete without local governments. 

The minister also said that the provincial capital of Sindh is not begging for its rights from the chief minister of Sindh. While addressing a press conference, he said the PTI organised an “All Stakeholders” conference to speak out against the new Sindh local government law passed by the provincial assembly.

“We will come up with a strategy soon,” said Umar. The minister said that it was necessary to “change the system rather than faces”, adding that a new system should be brought in place, one where an elected official is forced to work for the welfare of the masses.

“We will continue to raise our voices in Sindh Assembly, despite their [PPP] telling us that we are in the minority,” he said, adding that the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 needed to be amended as its provisions were in contravention to the Constitution.

“Our basic problems will not be solved till the masse are not empowered,” Umar said, adding that it was important for local governments to be strengthened. “Politics has been taken over by a few families; they want to stay rich and maintain their sway [over everything],” he said.

The minister cited the example of the local government system in Islamabad, saying that the mayor had powers to take decisions for the welfare of the city. “Work is being carried out in Islamabad according to a master plan,” he added. Despite his criticism of the Sindh government, the minister said the PTI was ready to talk to the Sindh chief minister to solve people’s problems. He said the federal government had held talks