Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

 Mubasher Mir

 Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir's meeting with the leadership of the business community in Karachi, members of the business community also openly expressed their views. According to informed sources, the business community was of the opinion that since Karachi was no longer the capital, its conditions have been deteriorating. Even now, if it is made the capital for a few months, the situation may change. The business community has suggested that if business activities are started in the city of Karachi in the right way, then no one can stop the development of Pakistan. The city of Karachi is held by various mafias. The provincial government has failed to solve the water problem. While the land mafia is active with full force. 

The business community had already raised this situation before the Chief of Army Staff, but no progress has been made so far.

General Asim Munir took a realistic view that only Pakistanis can bail out Pakistan. While his position was different in the beginning, he talked about bringing an investment of 100 billion dollars, this dream has not yet been converted into reality. Pakistanis can make Pakistan progress only if the state of Pakistan trusts its citizens. To strengthen the relationship between citizens and the state, the government of Pakistan should establish a system of justice and fairness. The people are grinding in the mill of oppression, whether the government is federal or provincial, politicians and bureaucracy (civil and military) are living a life of decorum. Administrative expenses of the government are unfair. People are being burdened, how will Pakistanis invest in such a situation?

Protecting the citizens should be the first priority of the state and the use of tax money on non-productive projects should be stopped, then the confidence of the people will increase, but the government officials are not ready to make such a big sacrifice. 

The announcement of new canals on the Indus River has spread anxiety in Sindh province. JUIF held an all-party conference in which the People's Party also participated and the Chief Minister of Sindh also gave statements regarding the water of Sindh, but GDA refused to participate in the conference in the presence of the People's Party. Dr. Safdar Abbasi is of the opinion that the federal government has taken the leadership of People's Party into confidence and started work on Cholistan Canal. The federal government has not yet clarified its position on this unrest in Sindh.

Ideas 2024, the defence expo concluded in Karachi, on which it was announced that 82 MoUs and agreements had been signed. It is a welcome thing that the private sector should be more involved in this sector. Pakistan's defence expenditure can come down significantly if exports of defence equipment increase substantially.

Pakistan's business community should start joint ventures, this will lead to good relations with friendly countries. Institutions of Turkiye Iran and China achieved a prominent position in the defence exhibition and also received awards. It can be hoped that Pakistan will emerge as a major player in defence equipment and create employment opportunities by utilizing modern technology.

The province of Sindh has formally demanded the federal government to hold a meeting of the Council of Common Interests. It has been almost 9 months since the current government setup was formed, despite the coalition parties, the Prime Minister is not holding a meeting of the Council of Common Interests. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had earlier demanded that a meeting of the council be called, now the coalition party of the government has also demanded. It is strange that why the province of Punjab is silent in this regard, reservations have arisen on the distribution of water between the federation and the provinces. Sindh province wants constitutional protection of 1991 agreement. The federal government should also discuss the issues of gas and water in the Council of Common Interests. It is also important to discuss the merits and demerits in the federal and provincial governments policies. A new understanding between the federation and Provinces is the need of the hour.

People's Party is celebrating its foundation day on November 30. Since its inception, People's Party has seen many difficulties, leaders have been killed, but it has also gained power many times. Of course, it has great works to its credit, but in the current situation, the biggest loss that the People's Party has taken is that it has changed from a federal party to a provincial party.  but at the national level it has not got the status it had during the time of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Ms. Benazir Bhutto. It is a challenge for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to bring back the position of his mother's and maternal grandfather's time and position of the party. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has a lot of time but he will have to do national politics, he will have to come out of provincial politics which seems difficult.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

Mubasher Mir

After reports of displeasure with the government by Chairman People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of this and soon the Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has been instructed to meet with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to remove the concerns. People's Party says that the PML-N government has failed to fulfill its promises. Refusing to divulge the details of the agreements, he said that his party was not being respected mainly for being a government ally. As if the federal government did not take some decisions by taking the allies into confidence. They are also not satisfied with the formation of constitutional benches. It remains to be seen how the Deputy Prime Minister addresses their concerns.

The federal government is planning to build  six different canals from the river Indus. The Darya Bachao movement has also started on this. Although the top leadership of the People's Party has not given any strong statement on it, the leader of the People's Party, Arslan Sheikh, who belongs to Sukkur, has said in a statement that the support of the federal government It does not mean that a compromise should be made on the water of Sindh. The Muslim League-N cannot keep the People's Party angry and neither can they tolerate each other's anger. Therefore, even the biggest difference appears to be minor. Because finally Mian Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari are there to find a final solution to all such differences. The top leadership of both sides has a flexible attitude towards each other.

People's Party has got the majority in the municipal by-elections. People's Party has won more representatives in all the districts. Other parties have expressed reservations on this. Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami are not satisfied with the election results. Nationalist parties of Sindh have also opposed the extraction of more canals from the Indus River, but they have not tried to establish their position in the local elections. Supporters of nationalist parties are scattered, they can gather for a protest and act as a pressure group, but their success in electoral politics is not visible. They take part in all the issues of Sindh province, but they are not an effective political force in the election.

Chief Minister Sindh has made great efforts to improve his performance. One of these successful efforts was a lively discussion on the Carbon Care Project on the Indus Delta at the Environmental Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Indus Delta can play an important role in improving the environment.

The decision to seek help from Russia to revive the steel mills is also significant. Steel Mills was a profitable enterprise in 2008, after which it started to decline and within two years it turned into a non-performing project. 22 billion corruption was exposed, the finance director and CEO of this institution faced imprisonment and lawsuits. The pension fund of the employees of the steel mills was also used, after that the mill was completely shut down from 2014.  It will have to be regenerated. The support from Russia is being welcomed by civil society because it was launched with the help of Russia.

A tough time is about to begin for the MQM as one of their long-time associates and former governor Ishratul Ibad Khan is launching a new political party called Meri Pehchaan Pakistan. Although he is starting it from Islamabad, his main and primary target will be the electorate of Karachi.

Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan will soon reach Islamabad and start a new political journey. So far, no important person has shown his commitment to him. Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan was the governor of Sindh for fourteen years, his time was the time of MQM's power, he was a very powerful governor during the time of General Pervez Musharraf. At the same time, many of MQM's own workers were killed, Baldia factory incident happened, May 12 tragedy happened, lawyers were burnt in Karachi, Benazir Bhutto's murder was surrounded by fire in the entire province. Of course, questions about these events will follow him.

Index is making record in market shares. But the business community is expressing difficulties.

The 12th edition of the country's exhibition on Defence has begun and this time delegates are coming in record numbers. More than 50 countries have become a part of it. The theme of the use of modern technology is prominent in the Ideas exhibition as IT and drone technology have made a splash around the world. It is being fully demonstrated in recent wars between Russia, Ukraine and Israel, Iran and Lebanon. Artificial Intelligence is also playing an important role in targeting. The outlook for future wars also seems to be changing. Along with army, navy and air force, cyber force has also become integral. With this defence exhibition, Pakistan can find ways to achieve success in defence diplomacy and defence economy.

It can be hoped that the political and military leadership of Pakistan will formulate a strategy considering public support as a necessity for defence of the country.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

Mubasher Mir

Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, was targeted by terrorism and a suicide blast took place at the Quetta railway station. It becomes easy for terrorists to target such places where people rush. This terrorism has mourned the whole country. IG Police Railways has given orders for security alert at all railway stations of the country. By the way, there is a security alert situation in Pakistan all the time and the entire nation should work together to deal with terrorists. The National Action Program should be completed in any case. No city of Pakistan is out of their target and neither does the terrorist see who has what creed,cast, color and race.

Pakistan is facing challenges like terrorism, extremism and separatism, for that, efforts should be made to control the situation politically. The path to recovery of Pakistan's economy can be fully paved only when the path of political stability is adopted.

Chinese residents have been attacked once again in the city of Karachi. This is the most worrying thing, the country that is investing in Pakistan is being targeted by terrorists. The conversation between the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister at an event in Islamabad was considered offensive by the Chinese ambassador and reacted to it at the same time. Government ministers should have a careful discussion in this regard.

The supplementary stages of local body elections in Sindh will be completed on November 14. The number of polling stations for ten local body seats in Karachi has been set at 167. Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has alleged that the provincial government is making arrangements for pre-poll rigging. Transparency should be taken into account in this regard.

Door-to-door election campaign is conducted in the election for representation in the local bodies. People take a lot of interest in it, so they also have a close look at the results of this election. If any irregularity is noticed in it, it is pointed out immediately. The people of Karachi still remember the drama of the Mayor Karachi election. Therefore, the administration should not take any action that would further undermine the credibility of the election.

Tehreek-e-Insaaf leaders held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club and expressed their concerns that there were problems in the coverage of the press conference they hold at the Insaf House. So now we have chosen Karachi Press Club. We hope that this time there will be no attempt to stop our coverage in the media.

It is very worrisome and a threat to democracy that a political party raises the question that its news is being forcibly withheld. Media institutions have always faced difficulties but efforts are made to overcome these difficulties in some way.  what has been done here should not be ignored.

After the 26th constitutional amendment, constitutional benches are being created in the high courts of the country. The resolution was passed in the Sindh Assembly and the work of making the constitutional bench active has started, but the question has been raised regarding several cases of the Sindh High Court that the process of the cases that will be transferred to the constitutional bench has not been completed yet. The cases are seeking transfer to the Constitution Bench. During the hearing of the case against the Board of Revenue, the lawyer had also raised the objection. The cases that are to be transferred to the Constitution Bench should be determined immediately, along with this, it is also of interest that the 26th Constitutional Amendment has been challenged in the High Courts and how it will be heard in the Constitution Bench itself. An amendment against him may be heard in the Full Court.

Regarding the retired employees, their problems are increasing while unemployment has already increased to a great extent, the retired employees who have been serving in federal institutions were allotted houses in Karachi, now the government  wants to get back from them, the MQM leadership has expressed concerns that in this way senior citizens will become homeless. Pakistan lacks a coherent and fair policy on government transport and accommodation. Therefore, the use of these two facilities is wrong and problems also arise. In this regard, the policy should be fair.

New records  have been established in the stock exchange. Now it seems that this index will cross the psychological limit of 100,000. It should be hoped that this will have a positive impact on the country's economy, which has not yet come.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

 Mubasher Mir

The privatization of PIA has been criticized from all sides, but there has also been a bit of a joke, especially with the provinces showing interest in buying the airline. The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gave a statement and then the video of Mian Nawaz Sharif was released from America.

In fact, it is a national asset, but it was treated the same way as other national assets were treated in different periods of government. The Federal Ministry of Privatization was responsible for the privatization of PIA, but the seriousness aspect was neglected in the way this process was done. A real estate group even advertised it well on its TV channel and tried lobbying but was stingy in bidding for Pakistan's national brand, hence the case became a joke. The federal government should take note of this.

PIA has assets worth more than ten billion in Karachi. It was better for the federal government to sell PIA through Stock Exchange. In order to make the public a shareholder, still the federal government should sell the shares of PIA through the stock exchange, increasing the number of private directors will improve corporate governance.

At the Karachi Press Club, the Indus River Saving Conference was held, progressive leader Zain Shah criticized the Government of Pakistan and especially the President for planning to drain six more canals from Sindh. While the Arsa Act is also being amended, he was of the view that less water than Sindh is falling into the sea due to which a large part of the land is being exposed to the sea. An indication has been given to run a movement for this, thus GDA has also spoken about protecting the water of Sindh. The provincial government started the reconstruction of Sukkur Barrage a few days ago, seven canals originate from Sukkur Barrage which irrigate the lands of Sindh.

The reason for the land of Sindh to be seaward is that the river does not flow throughout the year. For this, it is necessary to build dams so that the water flow in the river continues throughout the year. Attention should be paid to securing the Indus Delta, where the Indus River joins the sea. Progressive leader Zain Shah also criticized the 26th constitutional amendment, which he believed sought to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

A resolution has been passed in the Sindh Assembly under Article 202 of the Constitution under which a constitutional bench will also be formed in the High Court. 123 members of People's Party and MQM supported it as if MQM did not discuss it even though it was in the opposition in the Sindh Assembly as per its federal policy.

Jamaat-e-Islami and Sunni Ittehad Council (Tehreek-e-Insaf) opposed this resolution. In any assembly, if the members do not debate and discuss a resolution, bill or act, but put a stamp of approval on it, then it does not fulfill the requirements of democracy. The party policy should at least be such that the members should be free to express their opinions.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has severely criticized the current government and termed Mian Nawaz Sharif's victory from Lahore National Assembly constituency as doubtful. He says that if Form 45 is decided regarding the election, then the current system will not be able to stand. The present ruler and style of governance is a burden.

Two billion are being spent on the planes of the President and the Prime Minister. According to recent reports, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and his delegation have stayed in expensive hotels during their visit to Saudi Arabia.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is in Dubai on a private visit where his stay has been extended by a sprained foot, public opinion is that the President should have no problem returning by his special plane. Because they can be treated better in Pakistan.

The US elections have started and the impact of its results in Pakistan is under discussion, many people are of the opinion that in case of Donald Trump's victory, there will be a change in the US policy towards Pakistan.