Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has called off its sit-in protest in Karachi after the Sindh government agreed to the revisions in the Sindh Local Government Act of 2013 after negotiations successfully concluded between them.
Both parties have signed the written agreement according to which the health and education institutions will be again transferred to the local bodies, said Sindh Minister for Local Government, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah.
While addressing the sit-in protestors, Nasir Shah announced that the provincial government will bring amendments to the Local Government law. The notification will be issued in one to two weeks by the Sindh government.
Both parties also agreed to establish the Provincial Finance Commission, with the mayor and town chairman as members of the commission. It will be awarded once the representatives of the Local Government take power to the authority.
The mayor and chairman will be responsible for the Building Control Authority and other development authorities.
The educational institute, Medical and Dental College will be given back to the Karachi Municipality.
The Solid Waste Management Board will be in control of Mayor Karachi.
Later on, JI Karachi Chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman announced that there would be no sit-in protests in different areas of the city.
He said, “With the implementation of this agreement with the Sindh government, we have to get some issues resolved by the federation.”
JI party has been staging sit-in protests for the past 29 days in Karachi. On January 23, Karachi Chief of JI, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman warned that the party will block five entrance points to Karachi if their demands were not met.
Both parties reached an agreement after several protesters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) got injured from tear gas shelling and police mishandling including the death of one worker on Wednesday. The MQM was attempting to reach the CM House for a sit-in against the Local Government Act.
The police, however, baton-charged the crowd and used teargas shells in an attempt to dissuade them from entering the red zone.
