LAHORE, July 31: The District Coordination Officer of Mandi Bahauddin reported to the government on Thursday that the annual budget of the district government was rejected by a majority vote.

“This is, in fact, a no-confidence move against the Nazim which is the first instance in the local government system in the country,” official sources informed Dawn.

“The budget was presented by Mandi Bahauddin District Nazim Nazar Muhammad Gondal of the PPP on Wednesday in the presence of all the executive officers.

“It was rejected by at least 50 members of the 88-member house, who earlier delivered fiery speeches. Those who rejected the budget had signed the relevant papers to authenticate their disapproval,” the DCO reported to the provincial local government department.

The DCO said one-month of the current financial year has already passed without new allocations, creating problems for the administration in running the district government.

Seeking help of the local government department, the DCO reported that the district government has not been able to spend a single rupee on the execution of development schemes and on the non-development side because of the lack of budget.

The DCO has requested the local government department to prepare a budget for the district government so that it could properly function, sources said.