 on Thursday called on the federal government to declare Karachi a federal territory and designate it as the country’s financial capital.){kind=link}
ISLAMABAD, Jan 22 (ABC): The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday called on the federal government to declare Karachi a federal territory and designate it as the country’s financial capital, citing chronic governance failures highlighted by the recent Gul Plaza fire tragedy.
Addressing a press conference, MQM-P leader Mustafa Kamal urged the Centre to invoke Articles 148 and 149 of the Constitution to assume a stronger administrative role in the metropolis. He said Article 149 empowers the federal government to issue directives to provinces to avert threats to peace, public order, or economic life.
Arguing that Karachi’s economic weight warrants special status, Kamal said the city cannot be left to the existing provincial administration, a reference to the Pakistan Peoples Party (Pakistan Peoples Party) government in Sindh. “We have an administrative capital, but Karachi should be the financial capital,” he said, adding that broader demands for new provinces could be taken up later.
Kamal also accused the provincial setup of disenfranchising residents and warned that governance failures risk alienating citizens and benefiting hostile forces. He claimed the PPP was taking unfair advantage of the 18th Amendment and demanded stronger local governments (LGs), recalling that proposed LG reforms had support during talks on the 27th Constitutional Amendment but stalled due to political deadlock.
He said MQM-P has long linked its backing of constitutional changes to empowering LGs under Article 140A, and announced the party would now pursue its proposals as part of a future 28th Amendment. The issue also surfaced in the National Assembly of Pakistan, where lawmakers discussed LG reforms following the Gul Plaza incident. MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar called for creating additional administrative units, while PML-N’s Khawaja Asif supported strengthening LGs to improve city management.
Meanwhile, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon rejected MQM-P’s demands, accusing the party of politicising the tragedy. He questioned whether rolling back the 18th Amendment or handing Karachi to the Centre would prevent such incidents, asserting the Sindh government was not evading responsibility for public safety and property protection.