PESHAWAR: Urging the government to take the representatives of the local government (LG) into confidence before taking any decision about the future of the local councils, district nazims and naib nazims have vowed to resist any move that could render the local government ineffective.
The representatives of the first tier of the government presented their views at a convention organised by the Local Council Association (LCA) here on Monday.
Abbottabad District Nazim Sardar Saeed Anwar said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) introduced the local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The flaws in the current system could be removed with the passage of time,” he said.
He said problems could crop up if the entire system was rolled back. He said that direct election of district nazim would not work as lack of accountability of the nazim would fail the system.
“The proposed direct election is an attempt to block the election of a person from the middle class to become district mayor,” he said, adding that current system has space for a person from the middle class to lead the district government.
He said that now the decision is being taken on the majority vote while the proposed system would become a one-man show.
The Abbottabad nazim said that controlling the district administration would become impossible in the absence of the district council.
Tank District Nazim, Mustafa Kundi, while expressing his views said that Local Government Act 2013 was not in the spirit of Article 140-A of the Constitution though it was better than no representation.
He said the devolved departments could be brought under the command of tehsil nazims, adding that “The support of MPAs and MNAs show their lack of education.”
Mustafa Kundi claimed that tehsil tier could not handle the district level departments. “Devolving powers to the grassroots is PTI’s mission and it should complete the task,” he said.
He said the continuous changes in the system created confusion in the minds of common people about the intention of the old politicians who are afraid of the new entrants to the national and provincial level politics and want to block their entry.
Torghar District Nazim Dil Roze said that they must raise voice over the continuous changes in the system that would push the country back into the undemocratic era. He opposed the abolition of the first tier of the local governance. The nazim alleged that attempts were being made to restore the bureaucratic rule. He argued that PTI had won the election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the efforts of its representatives in local government.
Syed Qasim Ali Shah, Peshawar District Naib Nazim, said that the event was organised to draft recommendation of the nazims and forward the draft to the government.
He said the recommendations would reflect Article 140-A of the Constitution that required devolution of departments to the district level. Syed Qasim Ali Shah added the draft would focus on addressing the weaknesses of the 2013 act and strengthen the three-tier system.
The naib nazim said the councillors understood the system at the last leg of the incumbent district government and it should continue to function to improve its functioning.
He said the current system was unable to make government officials accountable. He urged the government to specify responsibilities and avoid abolishing any tier from the system.
Shangla District Nazim Niaz Muhammad, during his speech, said that the government activities were shrouded in mystery. “Nobody even the people in government know what would happen next,” he said, asking the government not to create confusion.
He said the PTI’s good steps should be appreciated and termed the current system the best in Pakistan. He asked the government to retain the system for the betterment of democracy.
The situation turned unpleasant when Town-II Nazim Faridullah came to the stage and asked the district nazims to refrain from opening a front against tehsil councils or else their councils would also start resisting the district councils.
During his speech some district representatives stood up and demanded walkout from the meeting. However, LCA representatives let him continue his speech.