New local govt system being introduced in KP: Pervez Khattak

NOWSHERA: Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak has said the government is introducing a new local government system by devolving powers to the grassroots level to facilitate masses.

The draft of amendments to the Local Government Act 2019 is being prepared, which will soon be presented in the provincial assembly to introduce a new system of district, tehsil and village governments in the province,” he said this while addressing a party joining meeting on Saturday.

Several political workers announced quitting their respective parties and joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on the occasion.

Pervez Khattak said that rifts in the ranks of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had now come to limelight as its leaders had presented different narratives to dislodge the incumbent government.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan would not come under pressure due to the opposition’s protest movement and the PTI government would complete its constitutional term,” he said.

The defence minister said that PDM had no proper agenda and it only wanted protection for its own leaders.

He said staging rallies and public meetings was the right of the opposition parties and the government would never impede them but insisted these events would fail to pressure the government.

The federal minister believed that the opposition parties wanted to save the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership, which, he said, was facing inquiries by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for alleged corrupt practices.

He said the PDM leaders were not on the same page as they lacked strategy and agenda to oust or change the government.

The cases, both the PML-N and PPP leaders are facing, were not instituted during our tenure,” he claimed.

The federal minister said the prime minister still enjoyed the support of the masses and the PTI was the only popular political party in the country. Pervez Khattak enumerated the development schemes he had completed in Nowshera.

He said the projects would change the lot of the people of the district as these pertained to health, education, irrigation, agriculture. The defence minister thanked the people of Nowshera for always putting trust in him and his other family members and elected them to the assemblies and thus giving them a chance to serve them.