HYDERABAD, May 17: The DCO cannot use powers of the Hyderabad District Council in view of a notification issued by the additional chief secretary, legal department, on April 16. This was stated by a member of the Al-Khidmat group of the district council, Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

He said that according to the notification issued under section 186 (2) of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001, the district nazim and the naib nazim had been removed but the district council was still intact. He said the DCO had only been given temporary charge.

Quoting section 48 of the ordinance, he said that under the existing situation the district council had the authority to elect an acting district nazim till a new nazim was elected under section 156 of the SLGO.

He said it was necessary to convene a meeting of the council within 10 days to elect the nazim.

Mr Khan said the DCO had the authority to convene the meeting of the council but he had evaded his responsibility under instructions of the Sindh government.

He maintained that it was clear under section 156 of the ordinance that the election process of the nazim should be completed within 30 days. He said the election commission ought to have issued an election schedule but it had not been done.

Explaining the legal position, the council member said Hyderabad had been divided into four independent districts and, therefore, members of the defunct Hyderabad district had automatically become members of district councils of those districts from where they had been elected.

He claimed that neither the DCO nor the election commission had carried out their legal obligations.

He maintained that the DCO was not authorized to use any financial powers.

Mr Khan demanded that a meeting of the district council should be convened immediately to elect the district nazim.