KARACHI – The Sindh Assembly has passed the Sindh Local Government Act 2026 by a majority vote, introducing amendments to the province’s local government laws.
The bill was presented by Sindh Law Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar during a session of the provincial assembly. Opposition lawmakers protested as soon as the bill was introduced, tearing copies of the proposed legislation and chanting slogans in the house.
Despite the opposition protest, the bill was put to a vote and approved by a majority. The session was then adjourned until 3pm on Tuesday.
After the session, opposition lawmakers announced that they would challenge the legislation in court.
Opposition lawmaker Shabbir Qureshi rejected the bill, alleging that political manoeuvring had been used in 2023 to impose Murtaza Wahab as mayor of Karachi. He warned that similar developments in the future could raise concerns about electoral manipulation.
Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Muhammad Farooq also rejected the legislation, arguing that it did not give sufficient powers to local governments.
He said the provincial government had retained powers despite the 18th Amendment and alleged that an amendment proposed by him had been ignored.
Farooq claimed the bill could allow elected political figures to become political administrators if local elections were not held. He said PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had opposed the legislation and announced that Jamaat-e-Islami would challenge it in court.
MQM opposition leader Ali Khursheedi described the development as “political dictatorship”, alleging that the bill had been passed suddenly while other legislative business was set aside.
He said political parties inside and outside the assembly had rejected the bill, adding that the Sindh government was undermining a Supreme Court decision on the transfer of powers to local governments.
MQM lawmaker Iftikhar Alam said the opposition’s position had not been heard and called for greater devolution of powers to the grassroots level.
He said the MQM had protested against the bill in the committee and again in the assembly, and rejected the legislation.
