The opposition leader in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Friday announced a no-confidence motion against Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, accusing the local government of failing to protect citizens following repeated deadly incidents across the metropolis.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Naib Emir Saifuddin Advocate stated that the city has been mourning since the Gul Plaza tragedy, which left dozens dead and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds.
He added that successive incidents had left citizens feeling abandoned, with no one willing to take responsibility, noting that people were dying due to water tanker accidents, dog bites, and robberies.
The KMC opposition leader alleged that criminal elements had overwhelmed the city, saying government officials believed that just holding meetings was governance.
Saifuddin added that governance would be evident if institutions were performing their duties fully and on time.
He also held Karachi’s Commissioner Syed?Hassan?Naqvi responsible for negligence, stating that institutional failures and mismanagement had already been highlighted earlier by JI Chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
“We had already said that all institutions in Karachi have collapsed, but the government refuses to accept it,” he added.
He alleged that the Sindh government wanted all institutions to operate under its direct control.
Referring to a recent report on the Gul Plaza inferno, Saifuddin said that the report merely presented a sequence of events and prevailing conditions.
The deadly fire, which claimed the lives of 80 people, prompted the Sindh government to hold a judicial inquiry into the incident.
Addressing a presser on Thursday, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Gul Plaza incident will be investigated through a judicial commission.
Subsequently, the provincial government wrote a letter to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC), seeking formation of the judicial panel under serving judge of the high court.
Karachi’s largest fire in more than a decade broke out on January 17 and quickly spread through the sprawling shopping complex, famous for its 1,200 family-owned stores selling wedding clothes, toys, crockery, and other goods.
An investigation report into the incident stated that information about the fire was received at 10:26pm, following which one fire tender and one water bowser were dispatched at 10:29pm.