RAWALPINDI: The District Council has approved new building bylaws in the absence of the district assembly which is still incomplete even two years after the local government elections.

The local government elections in Punjab were held on Dec 5, 2015. A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that Deputy Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal approved the bylaws in his capacity as the administrator of the district.

He said the elected house was not complete as a case regarding the Morgah Union Council was pending with Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench due to which the chairman and vice chairman of the council could not be elected.

“In the absence of the elected house, the provincial government issued a notification appointing the deputy commissioner as the administrator of the District Council who is using the powers of the elected members.” He said according to the law the elected members had to be consulted before approval of any public oriented policy.

When contacted, District Officer Planning Freeha Amin said the District Council did not introduce any new section in the building bylaws but adopted the model building bylaws formulated by the Punjab government.

She said the deputy commissioner had approved the building bylaws which would be implemented as soon as possible. In the absence of the elected assembly, the deputy commissioner can approve new laws. She said the house was not complete yet but new laws had to be introduced as per the requirement of the local government system.

On the other hand, a ruling PML-N member of the District Council said political leaders wanted to accommodate their own people on the posts of chairman and vice chairmen. He said senior local leaders of the party failed to reach a consensus on nominating the chairman and vice chairman of the council. They also failed to pursue the case in the court for the completion of the house, he added.

When contacted, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf District President Zahid Kazmi said the provincial government was not interested in handing over the affairs of the local government to the elected representatives.

He said the PML-N wanted to run the affairs of the district through the bureaucracy and the latter was cashing in on the situation.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017