In your opinion, who is the responsible of traffic jams in Karachi?

• Public: because people don’t care about rules and still want to use incorrect paths regardless the impact?
• City Government: because they didn’t plan properly and creating problems for public?
• Traffic Police: because they are failed to control traffic properly?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Gilani says local govts illegal, unconstitutional

ISLAMABAD: Defending the provinces’ demand for wrapping up the local governments, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday that the decision to replace the 150-year-old magistracy system with the local bodies was ‘illegal and unconstitutional’. ‘Former president Pervez Musharraf’s decision to make local governments a federal subject under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was illegal and undemocratic,’ he told reporters after attending a function at the ministry of science and technology…

…The five-year tenure of the local government will expire in October and there is a strong possibility that no more LG polls will be held and the old magistracy system will come back…

…The government, he said, was taking tough and unpopular decisions to save the country from difficult situation. ‘I would not say that the government is taking popular decisions. We have to put the country on right track. We are democratic people. We have faced imprisonment not for becoming the prime minister but for the rights of the people,’ he said.

read full news story here…

It seems like we are headed back to the old draconian system of having magisterial fiefdoms. Whereas the local government gives us the advantage of choosing representatives from our own area, the magistracy system is based on having somebody appointed over you who may not even be from your area. He will not be sincere to the region, will not know its problems well, and will have a tendency to rule with an upper hand like his personal jagir – which basically gives him power over anyone else – to use and abuse as he likes without question.

Which system do you prefer? I personally have a clear preference for the local governments system; primarily because its more democratic, more modern, ensures that the person running your government is answerable to you rather than being your boss, and because it gets results. The magistracy system leads nowhere. What do you have to say? Let your voices be heard – because YOU should make such key decisions in a real democracy.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

]]> http://karachi.metblogs.com/2009/07/11/nazims-or-magistrates/feed/ 64 http://karachi.metblogs.com/2008/11/21/are-pakhtuns-being-targeted/ http://karachi.metblogs.com/2008/11/21/are-pakhtuns-being-targeted/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:46:09 +0000 Faisal.K http://karachi.metblogs.com/?p=5171 Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Lately there have been shady reports coming in from different parts of Karachi that Pakhtun hotels and dhabas are being put out of commission overnight.

There are also reports that Pakhtuns are being systematically sought out and removed from mohajir based areas as the leader of MQM has warned his party of the dangers these people somehow pose. Removal means eviction by landlords, refusal to buy goods from pakhtun businesses and so on

I thought it would be a good idea for us to engage in some citizen journalism and see if this is actually taking place or is more here say to fan the flames of ethnic violence in our city. This can easily be accomplished as most of us live in different areas of Karachi and can report via comments as to what is actually going on while trying to stay away from a political tilt in any direction.

So answer the above poll and tell us why you think this is or is not happening, based on your own locality. Pretty soon we should have a city wide grasp of the ground reality in this matter

On Monday, Daily Times reported he was getting “special treatment” from the State Department because they viewed him as a potential future leader of the country. The report in Monday’s The News was also on similar lines, it quoted CNN’s State Department Correspondent Zain Virje as saying that the mayor of Karachi was a “guest with a mission”. Daily Times also published the full transcript of the interview Kamal gave to Virje, and even though Kamal played down speculation about the purpose of his visit, telling Dawn’s Anwer Iqbal that he had come to the United States to urge American businessmen to invest in his city, speculation is still rife.

According to the Dawn report, some believe that Kamal might have been sent on a mission to “strengthen President Pervez Musharraf” and “build bridges with Pakistan’s future” (unquote Zain Virje). Other reports, Dawn adds, suggest “the US was trying to put together an alliance of like-minded parties to back the next political set-up in Pakistan should the PML-N quit the government”. Interesting theories all these, not sure I can say I sense any ulterior motives too, but these are interesting nevertheless. Here’s what Mustafa Kamal and the State department had to say about the matter (quoting from Dawn):

“It is not my domain,” said Mr Kamal when asked if he was here for talks aimed at strengthening President Musharraf. “I was not here to discuss this sort of things. My role remains confined to Karachi. I had no political talks.”

A State Department spokesman, when asked to comment on Mr Kamal’s meetings with officials at the department, said: “If you are looking for an ulterior motive, there’s none.”

The mayor’s 40-minute meeting with Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher was his only at the State, said the official.

“Mr Boucher talks to a lot of people,” said the official. “They had met in Pakistan a month ago when Mr Boucher visited Karachi. We got word that he was in town, wanted to come by, say hello to Mr Boucher and present an album of his trip to Karachi.”

Mr Kamal also denied having a hidden agenda. “All I can say is that Karachi is a very important city and has a very strategic role to play in Pakistan,” said the mayor. “People are realising Karachi’s importance. We have developed that city and now we are seeking investment.”

He said that the US State Department had helped arrange his meetings with the American business community and officials in various cities. He has already met the mayors of Chicago and Houston and the deputy mayor in Washington. In New York, he has a series of meetings with potential investors and is also meeting the board of directors of the world’s largest stock exchange.

Vote in the poll or use the comments below to let us know what you think.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

in today’s traffic conditions, it is becoming more convenient, to the extent of preference, to drive an automatic transmission car rather than a manual one.

we want to know if you prefer a manual transmission or auto?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Special shoutout to LMB and Hasan Mubarak for pointing out the Vizu website.

Which city, out of Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad is the best for Career Growth?

Also, you can give your own list of most popular jobs and average salary of your city.

My apologies: due to a fault in html, the actual poll didn’t make it to the post.