‘Annoyed’ Karachi administrator walks out of his first news conference

Apparently annoyed by questions of an allegedly political nature, Iftikhar Shallwani on Wednesday walked out of his first news conference after being appointed as the administrator of Karachi.

As he was leaving the committee room of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) head office, Shallwani said he was not there to answer any political questions.

Earlier, as the new administrator had begun his news conference, a reporter said to him that he had been Karachi’s commissioner for two years and failed to control the price of milk, asking him how he would be able to control the city as its administrator.

Shallwani was also asked to comment on the alleged fact that he never responded to any phone calls made by journalists. However, when the environment started becoming disorderly, the administrator left the room.

Some of the officials present there tried to persuade him to return to the news conference, but they could not change his mind. Moreover, despite repeated calls made by The

News after the event, the administrator remained unreachable.

Before being appointed as the administrator, Shallwani was briefly the Sindh local government secretary after Roshan Ali Sheikh, his predecessor, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau.

As the city’s commissioner, Shallwani had sealed many shops and shopping centres for violating the rules, but he had failed to control the price of the milk. His appointment as the administrator is a controversial issue, with political leaders censuring the move. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has claimed that Shallwani was appointed with the consensus of all the stakeholders. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has been the most vocal on the issue, not only criticising the appointment of the administrator but also accusing the Sindh government of ethnic bias.

‘I am a professional’

A statement later issued by the KMC quoted Shallwani as saying that his appointment as the city’s administrator was not politically motivated, with the senior bureaucrat asserting that he was a professional civil servant.

“I have to work in accordance with the responsibilities and mandate given to the KMC in the Sindh Local Government Act. I have nothing to do with politics and will perform my duties as a professional civil servant.”

He said that the idea of the news conference was to hold an introductory session with the public in his capacity as the new administrator of the city. He added that neither was he a political person nor did he want to get into politics.

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the stakeholders and the federal and provincial governments for the trust placed in me for the betterment of the city. It was necessary to meet the media representatives so that there would be no lack of communication with the media.”

Referring to the complexity of Karachi’s problems, he said that every stakeholder had to work with one another to improve the city.

“It can’t be done alone. For this I need advice, cooperation and suggestions for the betterment of the city.”

In a bid to de-escalate the tension with the media, he said the cooperation of the media is very important in this regard, as the media has appreciated his good deeds as Karachi’s commissioner, especially the organising of the Pakistan Super League in the city. “Similarly, I strongly hope that the positive things happening in the city will be supported in the future as well.”