LAHORE: Mayors and their deputies under the local bodies system took the oath in nine districts of Punjab on Saturday amid controversy surrounding new set-ups at the district level, where the provincial government is redefining the role of the district management.

The police have locked horns with the Punjab government and district managements over the issue.

Denying reports of a rift on the distribution of powers with the provincial government, retired Col Mubashir Javed was sworn in as the new mayor of Lahore along with nine of his deputies.

Speaking to journalists after the oath-taking ceremony, Mr Javed promised to serve the city to the best of his abilities. The nine deputies of Lahore are: Chaudhry Bilal, Rao Shahabud Din, Waseem Qadir, Ijaz Ahmed Hafeez, Sawati Khan, Haji Allah Rakha, Mehr Mahmood Ahmad, Arshad Ahmad Hafeez and Mian Tariq.

On the subject of distribution of powers, the mayor said, “We are clear on the matter...whoever has the authority to exercise powers will ultimately get them.”

In Sialkot, Chaudhry Tauheed Akhtar took the oath as mayor and Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed as deputy mayor. Aqeel Najam Hashmi was sworn in as mayor of Bahawalpur and Malik Munir Channar as deputy mayor. In Sahiwal, Asad Khan Baloch took the oath as mayor and Sajid Naeem Happy as deputy mayor.

In Gujranwala, Sheikh Sarwat Ikram took the oath as mayor along with his deputies Salman Khalid Butt aka Pomi Butt and Rana Maqsood Ahmad. Gujrat Municipal Corp­oration’s mayor Haji Nasir Mehmood and deputy mayor Asif Mehmda took the oath.

Faisalabad mayor Muhammad Razzaq Malik and his deputies Sheikh Yousaf, Abdul Ghafoor Chaudhry and Amin Butt took the oath at the Lyallpur Complex. In Multan, Naveedul Haq Arrain took the oath as mayor and Munawar Ehsan Qureshi and Muhammad Saeed Ansari as deputy mayors.

Newly elected mayor and deputy mayor of Rawalpindi, Sardar Naseem Khan and Chaudhry Tariq Mehmood, took the oath of their respective offices at the Rawalpindi Arts Council Auditorium.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2017