LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Punjab government has plans to scrap the existing “powerless” local government system and hold fresh party-based elections in the province, if its legal team gives a go-ahead to it in this regard.

Otherwise, the new legislation will be implemented in the existing local government entities, which will complete their tenure in November, 2019.

Since the existing local government system gave neither administrative nor financial powers to the elected representatives, many PML-N backed Nazims, chairmen and their deputies wanted the existing system be wound-up, said Punjab’s senior minister Abdul Aleem Khan, who holds the charge of local government and community development (LG&CD) department.

Says MPs will have to keep a check on govt officials

Talking to the media persons here on Wednesday, Mr Khan said the most PML-N backed Nazims, chairmen and their deputies were in contact and wanted to join the PTI considering it had plans to empower local governments to execute development schemes through them at the grassroots level. “The PTI will take active, honest and hardworking mayors, nazims, chairmen, their deputies and councillors in its fold,” he said.

Stating that the Punjab government was actively working on a new “potent” local government system, the senior minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan had called a meeting of all provinces on this subject at Islamabad on Sunday.

“The representatives from Punjab as well as other provinces will meet for a preliminary meeting on Saturday before attending the prime minister’s meeting,” Mr Khan said.

“The prime minister is highly sensitive towards devolving administrative and financial powers at the grassroots level and has already held two meetings on the subject,” he said and added the PTI would not disappoint the nation.

The Punjab cabinet has also decided to review the existing local government system in the province till Sept 20, propose a blueprint to revamp it till Oct 15 and eventually come up with a draft legislation to amend the relevant law by Nov 15 this year.

He said, the respective provinces might have their own systems according to their demographic, infrastructural and cultural needs, ensuring that powers be devolved at the grassroots level.

“While the LG system being proposed by the incumbent government will give administrative and financial powers to the elected representatives, they will also be held accountable through third-party validation by foreign auditing firms annually,” the senior minister said.

Revealing other salient features of the new LG system, he said the mayor’s election would be “direct” – all voters in the city would vote and elect a mayor. Responding to a question, he said, the political parties themselves would run their candidates’ campaigns.

He said the Punjab government was also considering replacing union council system with the village councils following Khyber Pakhtunkhwa model. “We have a lot of things to learn from KP’s village council system,” he said.

Mr Khan said the PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz was trying to “frighten” his party-backed mayor, Nazims, chairmen and their deputies to continue having their support for the existing LG system.

“Hamza Shahbaz will have no worries, if his father (Shahbaz Sharif) had devolved powers at the grassroots level,” the senior minister said.

About tickets for by-election in the central Punjab, Aleem Khan said he would give his recommendations, but the final decision would be taken by the party chairman.

With regard to the creation of the new province, he said a plan entitled ‘Roadmap to South Punjab Province’, along with alternatives, would be prepared till Oct 15 this year. Besides Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar’s involvement, he said, a full-fledged committee headed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was working on the subject.

Mr Khan said the ministers, MNAs and MPAs would have to “interfere” in the official business on reports of mala fide actions by officers to establish the writ of the government. “If this is a political government and a minister is accountable, then he will have to interfere to run administration and establish writ of the government,” he said.

Answering a question what Prime Minister Imran Khan means when he say that political interference would not be tolerated in official working, the senior minister said the government officials could not be given a free-hand, if the political government was to be held responsible. “A balance will be created, where both political heads and government officials (could be) held accountable in case of any wrongdoing,” he said.

In the backdrop of Chakwal and Rajanpur deputy commissioners’ complaints against the PTI MNAs, he said the political government would establish its writ and won’t tolerate that officials continue writing applications against politicians.

Meanwhile, the senior minister planted a tree in the lawns of his office in the Chief Minister Secretariat, following PM Imran Khan’s vision of planting 10 billion trees in the country during the next five years. Aleem Khan also announced a donation of 50,000 plants from his own pocket for plantation in different parts of Lahore.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2018