LAHORE, Sept 16: Will the future legislators be able to adjust themselves to the new power structure which has transferred administrative authority to the district governments?

The question haunts those who have taken part in the introduction and implementation of the new local government system which was put in place on Aug 14 last year.

The distribution of development funds and subsequent execution of projects have been the main attraction for the legislators. But now it is the subject of district and tehsil governments which have been authorized to allocate funds and initiate work.

“The next six months are crucial for the future of the new local government system. If the legislators accept their role without crying for access to development funds and say in administrative affairs of their respective districts, the system would go on. Otherwise, a friction might develop between the legislators and the district governments,” says a senior government official.

Before the introduction of the devolution of power plan, the legislators used to have a say in the administrative affairs at the provincial and district level. Another attraction was the influence they could exercise in the administrative business at the local level and on police. The federal and provincial governments would even fulfil their illegitimate demands to appease them.

But now all development funds have been placed at the disposal of the district governments which are headed in most cases by heavyweights who, the officials say, are less likely to be influenced by the legislators.

Many departments have also been devolved at the local level and now interference in their affairs is subject to the willingness of the powerful district Nazimeen who, besides being the elected representatives, are also the administrative heads of their districts.

How powerful is the office of the Nazim can be gauged by the fact that 99 per cent of the district Nazimeen retained their present assignments instead of contesting the general election.

A majority of these Nazimeen belong to powerful political families of the Punjab. Some had held important positions at the federal and provincial level and even acted as federal or provincial ministers.

Former state minister and PPP leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi is the only district Nazim who has resigned from Multan to contest the general elections. Prominent people like former federal education minister Syed Sajjad Haider did not quit the Okara Nazimship. PPP’s former ministers, Tariq Bashir Cheema and Ghulam Abbas, have also retained their offices at the district level.

Former governor Altaf Husain’s son Farrukh, former president Farooq Leghari’s son Jamal, Hamid Nasir Chattha’s son Fayyaz and people like Rai Hasan Nawaz too have preferred to stay in the districts of Jhelum, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala and Sahiwal, respectively.

If a friction develops, there may be a tussle between the 371-member Punjab Assembly and 34 district Nazimeen with regard to the implementation of policies, officials said.

They said the presence of these people in districts with all the development funds and powers at their disposal would make it difficult for the members of the assemblies to have a say in the affairs of their respective districts. Their (legislators’) role would be confined to legislation and who knows whether they like it or not, the officials exclaim.