Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal on Thursday called on the federal government to declare Karachi a federal territory by making it the country’s “financial capital”.
The remarks come against the backdrop of the Gul Plaza inferno in the metropolis, which has resulted in lawmakers stressing the need for reforms in the city’s administration, particularly in local governments (LGs).
Kamal, addressing a press conference today, called on the federal government to “invoke Article 148 and 149 of the Constitution, and declare Karachi as the financial capital of the country”.
Article 148 of the Constitution pertains to the obligation of provinces and the federation, while Article 149 allows the federal government to issue directives to provinces in certain cases.
Article 149 enables the federal government to direct provincial governments regarding the “manner in which the executive authority thereof is to be exercised for the purpose of preventing any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity or economic life”.
Kamal stressed that given the potential of the metropolis, “it can not be given to such a provincial administration”, referring to the ruling PPP in Sindh.
“We have an administrative capital, but Karachi should be made a financial capital,” he reiterated, adding that the demand for provinces can be addressed later.
“A city that runs the entire country cannot remain under an administration engaging in democratic terrorism,” the MQM-P leader claimed.
Kamal insisted that the current city administration was “turning people against the state” by “disenfranchising them”, and cautioned that Pakistan’s enemies stood to gain from such a situation.
‘PPP taking unfair advantage of 18th Amendment’
The MQM-P leader further claimed that the PPP was taking “unfair advantage of the 18th Amendment”, alleging that it was being “used against us (Karachi citizens)”.
“End this 18th Amendment drama now,” Kamal said.
He also reiterated the party’s demand for strengthening the LG system.
Recalling the discussions ahead of the 27th Constitutional Amendment passed in November last year, he said that “even the prime minister agreed to the local government reforms”.
“The cabinet, including Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer and Rana Sanaullah, supported it unequivocally. However, the PPP was the sole party which refused to comply,” the MQM-P leader said.
“They threatened to pull out from voting for the other clauses in the Amendment, so we had to retreat,” Kamal added, echoing his stance of the PPP creating a “deadlock”.
The MQM-P has been calling for empowering LGs for a long time, even tying its support for the 26th and 27th Amendments to the inclusion of related provisions in Article 140A.
However, after both amendments did not address the matter, the party claimed that its suggested constitutional tweaks would now be advanced as the 28th constitutional amendment.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly session also echoed with calls for empowering LGs as lawmakers voiced their concerns over the deadly Gul Plaza tragedy.
MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar called for the “creation of more administrative units”, and PML-N’s Khawaja Asif also favoured strengthening LGs for better city management.
Memon assails MQM-P for ‘politicising’ Gul Plaza fire
On the other hand, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon lashed out at the MQM-P for “politicising” the Gul Plaza incident.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, he regretted that “certain parties” were attempting to politicise the Gul Plaza fire incident, and asserted that the Sindh government was displaying “great patience”.
“You call yourself the entire city’s party, so you have the full right to criticise, but they start making other sorts of statements in the guise of criticism,” Memon said, indirectly mentioning Kamal’s press conference from a while before.
“Will ending the 18th Amendment and handing over Karachi to the Centre prevent such incidents?” the PPP minister asked.
“We are not evading our responsibility,” he asserted, acknowledging that the protection of the public’s life and property.
He quipped, “This (Gul Plaza fire) was an incident. […] But those who have carried out such incidents in this city with their hands are making such remarks.
“Those parties are talking that have even burned people alive for extortion,” he alleged.
Memon said he was “forced to respond” as “serious allegations” were being made against his party.
“The Baldia factory was set on fire, innocent people were deprived of their lives, and the human hunting game was played on May 12, 2007, […] such statements from your mouth do not suit you.”
The PPP leader then played some old video clips of Kamal, wherein he could be heard making allegations against his current party leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and coalition ally PML-N, as well as hurling abuses in public.
Memon said he had responses for each statement made by Kamal, but he would “not fall in that trap”.
The PPP leader questioned why Kamal, being the federal health minister, had not paid a visit to Gul Plaza or asked if his help was needed in any matter.
“When your quaid (Altaf Hussain) used to give a strike call, when your workers used to count a score of 100 and kill people on the roads, and when bodies in sacks were found daily, did you not remember humanity then?”
Responding to a query, Memon said he was unable to “comprehend the objective” of the recent statements made by Kamal and PML-N’s Khawaja Asif.
Speaking on the Gul Plaza incident, Memon affirmed that the Sindh government was working on the “one-point agenda” of returning the remains of the victims to their loved ones.
“Neither can there be a price for a valuable life, nor can there be any substitute,” the minister said, reiterating that the government stood with the survivors during this “difficult time”.
Of the 1,200 shops in Gul Plaza that suffered damage, he said: “We will not argue about how many of these were legal and how many were built afterwards. Whoever has suffered damages and however much, the Sindh government has said that it stands with them and considers it its responsibility to get them back on their feet.”
Memon added that the government was also planning on giving interest-free loans to shop owners of Gul Plaza to help them.
According to Memon, Sindh’s Rescue 1122 received 1,094 reports of fire incidents across Karachi in 2025, while 84 such incidents were reported this month so far.
“It will come forward how this incident happened, how rescue efforts were carried out — if there is any shortcoming anywhere, the government will take action against it,” he said.
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