29 December 2004	Wednesday	16 Ziqa'ad 1425

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PESHAWAR, Dec 28: The NWFP government has suggested to the centre that the upcoming local body's polls should be held under the supervision of the provincial election authority instead of the Election Commission of Pakistan , according to the official sources.

Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, the sources said, would take up the matter with President Pervez Musharraf at a meeting to be held in Islamabad on Wednesday. President Musharraf will chair the meeting which would discuss the local governments' affairs and provinces' recommendations vis-a-vis the forthcoming local body's polls.

All chief ministers and National Reconstruction Bureau chairman Daniyal Aziz are expected to attend the meeting. The meeting will also discuss the proposed changes in the Local Government Ordinance, 2001, which have been suggested by all the provinces.

Provincial Local Government and Rural Development Minister Sardar Mohammad Idrees confirmed that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal-led government had suggested to the centre to allow the provincial election authority to conduct the next polls. He said that other provinces had yet to agree with the NWFP' government's proposal to hold the next local bodies elections on the party basis.

The minister said the NWFP government had also asked the centre to abolish Section 23 of the LGO, 2001, concerning removal of district nazim and Section 29 relating to the administrative district officers' responsibilities and powers.

He said the provinces were of the view that the number of members of the union councils should be reduced from 21 to 11.