The fatal blaze at Karachi's Gul Plaza, which left at least 27 people dead and around 81 reportedly missing, resonated in the National Assembly as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmakers urged the need for an empowered local government system to avert such tragedies.
Speaking on the floor of the House, the defence minister said the absence of adequate firefighting systems underscores the need for each province to have an effective mechanism that allows citizens to raise and resolve issues at the local level.
Asif said there was a consensus that an effective local government system should be adopted, but due to "political wrangling," the constitutional amendment was withdrawn.
"The 18th Amendment has proven to be a hoax as all powers have been transferred to the provincial government," the minister added.
"The incident has raised an alarm. It is time to take action. There should be meaningful amendments to the constitution to implement a uniform curriculum and an empowered local government system throughout the country.”
The defence minister said that "dictators" had introduced empowered local bodies in the country, but civilian governments tried to avoid devolving power to the grassroots level.
"They (civilian governments) often come up with lame excuses to defer local body elections," he added.
MQM-P MNA Farooq Sattar called for the Gul Plaza incident to be declared a national tragedy. "Karachi has been giving 65% of [country's] revenue for 75 years," remarked Sattar.
Questioning the government about the place of Karachi in its priorities, the lawmaker called for an investigation committee to be formed and the operationalisation of the Department of Civil Defence.
"Karachi should be given priority in national policies," stressed the MQM-P leader.
Terming the empowered local bodies essential for each city of the country, Sattar said that his party had proposed an amendment to Article 140, but the same was not incorporated.
Pakistan Peoples Party's Syeda Shehla Raza said that it was not "appropriate" time to "drag" the 18th Amendment, saying that Sindh is the only province where the local government system is working.
She said that it was not necessary for the province's chief minister and ministers to reach the incident site immediately. "The most important thing is for the rescue [teams] to arrive there," said Raza.
"40 people were killed in a New Zealand fire; it is a fire, such things happen," she added.
Acknowledging the traffic issue, the PPP leader admitted poor management and revealed that 24 out of the total 26 gates of Gul Plaza were in fact closed.
The lawmaker further questioned as to why the blaze continued to rage despite the attempts to douse it by using water.
Expanding on the building's history, Raza said that the Gul Plaza was built in 1980 with 180 shops in its basement and 405 shops on the ground floor.
In 1998, she added, the decision was made to establish shops in the parking area as well as the corridor.
