Muttahida upbeat as PM Shehbaz orders body on LG tweaks, missing men

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the formation of a committee to advance consultations on a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at strengthening local governments and to address Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) longstanding concerns over its missing workers, with the party expressing rare optimism after years of little movement on these key issues.

While MQM-P sees little chance for the proposed 28th Constitutional Amendment in the immediate future, the party leaders believe a broad political consensus is emerging in favour of an empowered local government system, including among opposition parties.

The party is also encouraged by the prime minister’s assurance that the defence and interior ministries will be engaged on the issue of missing workers, describing it as the most significant progress on the matter in years.

A statement issued by the MQM-P said that the fresh progress emerged during a meeting of the party delegation with PM Shehbaz in Islamabad, where several issues ranging from the rights of urban Sindh to the proposed constitutional bill came under discussion.

MQM-P delegation meets Shehbaz in Islamabad; urges him to pay greater attention to urban Sindh; requests him to consider appointment of party governor in Sindh

The MQM-P delegation, led by party Chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and including federal minister Syed Mustafa Kamal and Dr Farooq Sattar, as well as Syed Aminul Haque, met the PM “to discuss key issues concerning urban Sindh and matters of public interest.”

“During the meeting, the MQM-P delegation apprised the PM of several important issues, including the recovery of missing party workers, a proposed constitutional bill to empower local governments, the appointment of an MQM-P-nominated governor of Sindh and development packages for urban Sindh,” said the statement.

The delegation urged the federal government to take special measures for the development of urban Sindh, improvement of infrastructure, provision of public services and completion of ongoing development projects.

The statement said that the PM assured the delegation of positive steps to address the issues raised and directed the formation of a committee to make progress on the proposed local government legislation and the matter of missing workers.

‘Eight-member committee’

Dawn asked Amin ul Haque, who was part of the MQM-P delegation, how optimistic his party was after fresh assurances from the PM about providing constitutional cover for an empowered local government system, a cause for which the party has been struggling for many years; he said that this time the situation was far different from the past.

“The PM has issued directives for the constitution of the committee with four members from each side”, he said.

“More than a decade ago, it was only MQM-P that was arguing for implementation of Article 140-A of the Constitution in its true spirit. But right now, there’s a consensus among most of the parties in the parliament, whether it is JUI-F, PML-Q or any other party.

“The committee will now build consensus and even meet the leaders of the opposition for that purpose. And I personally think that PTI, being an opposition party, would also have no objection to this particular issue,” he said.

On the issue of MQM-P’s missing workers, the party expressed optimism, saying the prime minister had directed the defence and interior ministries to engage with its concerns, raising hopes of tangible progress after years of little movement on the matter.

“The meeting was positive overall as both the prime minister’s body language and the exchange of views were encouraging,” said Haque.

“The significance of the engagement was underscored by the presence of a high-powered government delegation accompanying the prime minister, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs Rana Sanaullah and other senior officials”, he added.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2026 ...