LG reps in Balakot concerned over delay in oath-taking ceremony

MANSEHRA: The chairmen-elect of Balakot village and neighbourhood councils on Friday expressed concern at the delay in the oath-taking ceremony, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had curtailed their powers first and now trying to keep them away from their offices.

“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government first amended the Local Governments Act 2019 in recent months to clip our powers and now delaying our oath-taking ceremony to fail this system,” Haider Khan, the chairman of Balakot neighbourhood council, told a consultative meeting. The chairmen-elect from across Balakot tehsil attended the meeting and through a unanimously adopted resolution demanded the government to reverse the amendment incorporated in the Local Government Act 2019.

“The chairmen and councillors of tehsil, village and neighbourhood have taken oath across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but we are still waiting for it,” Khan said.