MANSEHRA: Voting on the fresh no confidence motions against Balakot tehsil nazim and naib nazim will be held on Nov 17 after the council completed discussion on the motion on Tuesday.

Ibrahim Ahmad Shah of the PTI and Liaquat Khattana of the PML-N had submitted the no confidence motions against nazim Rustam Khan and naib nazim Sardar Abdul Qudus Khattana respectively earlier this week after the Abbottabad circuit bench of the Peshawar High Court cancelled proceedings on the earlier such motion over the violation of the Local Government Act, 2013.

Mr Shah and Mr Khattana defended no confidence motions saying both nazim and naib nazim had miserably failed to serve the people in tehsil.

They criticised the nazim and naib nazim over bad governance and said the two failed to execute a single development scheme in Balakot since their installation three years ago.

They said they’re hopeful that most councillors would support their move to oust nazim and naib nazim.

GOVERNOR’S ROLE SOUGHT: The district nazims have sought the provincial governor’s intervention for the release of funds by the government to local bodies.

“We met Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and informed him about the financial problems facing local bodies due to the provincial government’s refusal to release funds. We also conveyed to him our reservations about changes to the Local Government Act, 2013, for the curtailment of our powers,” Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam told reporters here on Tuesday.

Accompanied by secretary general of Nazmeen Ittehad Basharat Ali Swati, Mr Ghulam said the governor had called nazims to his office for a comprehensive discussion on their problems.

“A group of nazims will meet the governor in Peshawar soon to ask him to play his constitutional role for the relief of local governments facing serious financial crisis,” he said.

The nazim said the Supreme Court should also take a suo motu notice of the provincial government’s moves against the LG system.

He complained that the first quarter of the current fiscal had passed but the local governments in the province had yet to get budgetary allocations.

Mr Ghulam said the LG Act 2013 empowered nazims to run affairs of district governments but the provincial government reduced their powers by amending the law.

“We are in contact with nazims of districts, tehsils and even village and neighbourhood councils across the province and will soon call a local government convention to make a joint strategy to claim rights,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2017