September 27, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 26, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 26: The consultants hired by a foreign donor agency have independently started assessing the viability of the local government system in Punjab amid a clear-cut message by the provincial government that it doesn't want it.

"The consultants will formulate a policy regarding the future of the existing local government system. But given the pre-determined results, how a study can give an independent view," wondered an official who gave details of the new development to Dawn here on Friday.

In another related development, the prime minister's meeting on the local government which was to be held in Islamabad on Sept 27 and to be attended by all the chief ministers was postponed.

Officials linked the postponement to the departure of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra. They said the chief minister had nominated Local Government Minister Sirdar Dost Muhammad Khosa to represent him at the meeting.

But since the prime minister wanted all the chief ministers to themselves present their respective viewpoints on the very important issue, he postponed the meeting which would now be held some time after Eidul Fitr.

Referring to the study, they said the foreign consultants who had also conducted a similar exercise in the NWFP, earlier told the provincial government that they would be able to complete it by January next year. But the provincial government asked them to finish it by next month "as we want to change the system without any delay".

Officials said while Punjab and the NWFP were anxious to abolish the system, Sindh ruled by the PPP and the MQM wanted it to retain. This reflected political parties' difference of opinion on the issue. And to counter this, a decision on the future of the system should be made in consultation with all the major political parties so that it could be adopted by all.

The LG systems in Pakistan, they said, had always been given by military dictators having no worth in the political governments. The Ayub Khan's basic democracy was abolished after his departure. Gen Zia's local government system of 1979 was never accepted by the PPP, and now Gen Musharraf's devolution plan was being rejected by two provinces.

"This shows failure of the country to stick to a system of governance and democracy, and move forward towards the betterment of people. This is the time for all the political parties to decide what the country requires and settle this issue once and for all," the officials said.