LAHORE, Aug 12: Naib Nazim Mian Mohammed Usman has convened an extraordinary session of the Data Ganj Bakhsh Council on Friday for voting on a no-trust motion submitted by two union council Naib Nazims through secret ballot.

The Naib Nazim told Dawn on Tuesday that the session had been convened under the provisions of Section 63 (4) of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001. He said Town Nazim Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan would be given an opportunity to explain his position with respect to the allegations levelled against him in the motion.

He said the session for voting on a no-trust move could be convened after three days of receipt of a motion under the provisions of the law. The holding of session could not be delayed for more than six days under any circumstances.

He said Khwaja Hassaan needed 24 votes to defeat the no-trust move by a simple majority as the town council comprised 46 members at present. Two seats fallen vacant following the resignation of Dr Nasir and Ziauddin Ansari for contesting Punjab Assembly election had been lying vacant due to delay in bypolls.

He said councillors Shahzad Azam and Mian Azhar Javed would be unseated in the event of the defeat of the no-trust motion under the provisions of the law, but the Town Nazim would remain in office. He would be removed from office only after all 33 union councils in the town comprising 663 members had voted against him by a simple majority.

He said if the no-trust motion was carried, it would be referred to the union councils in the town for ratification because the Town Nazim had been elected by the UC members. Every union council would have to convene its session for voting on the motion. No time limit had been prescribed for holding the meeting of a union council for voting on the no-trust motion.

Meanwhile, majority of the town council members have stopped visiting the town office following the submission of the no-trust motion. Even the two movers of the motion, one of them reported to be very close to the Town Nazim, seem to have gone underground.

Naib Nazim Mohammed Usman said the no-trust motion had not been submitted to the council branch in person. It was submitted on their behalf by someone else.

Khwaja Hassaan said he was confident to survive the no-trust move because the allegations levelled against him were unfounded. He said the tendency to submit no-trust motions against Nazims and Naib Nazims would eventually destabilize the district government system.