MULTAN, Aug 17: All 13 districts that were once part of former Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan civil divisions are going to the polls in the first phase of the local government elections on Thursday (today).

The region is also known as Seraiki belt while some writers also use the term of southern Punjab for the districts of Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Lodhran, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah and Muzaffargarh.

The current system of local bodies was introduced four years ago with claims of devolving power to the grass roots level aimed at empowering common people, women and the other unprivileged sections of the society. But the outcome was contrary to the hopes projected by the National Bureau of Reconstruction.

Being the hub of the country’s agriculture sector, the Seraiki belt has ever been ruled by the landlords who ‘represent’ the area at all the tiers of the government — from local councils to the National Assembly.

When the district governments were formed in 2001 under what NRB claims devolution plan, the scions of traditional political families emerged as the victorious. Shah Mehmood Qureshi was the nazim in Multan, Ahmed Yar Hiraj in Khanewal, Mumtaz Khitchi in Vehari, Abdul Rehman Kanju in Lodhran, Rai Hasan Nawaz in Sahiwal, Amjad Joya in Pakpattan, Jamal Leghari in Dera Ghazi Khan, Hafeezur Rehman Dreshak in Rajanpur, Shahabuddin Seharr in Layyah, Sultan Hinjra in Muzaffargarh, Tariq Basheer Cheema in Bahawalpur, Ali Akbar Waince in Bahawalnagar and Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood in Rahim Yar Khan.

With the exception of Tariq Cheema and Ali Akbar Waince, all other former district nazims of Seraiki belt belonged to the traditional political clans. Cheema initially thrived for being a PPP diehard and later he was reportedly picked up by the powers that be in the country for, perhaps, his being the leader of settlers in Bahawalpur where more and more lands were being allotted to the men in khaki. That is why he is being considered as the king’s man for the next round of district government.

Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi paid whirlwind visits to the length and breadth of the Seraiki belt in what his critics allege in flagrant violation of the code of conduct, envisaged by the Election Commission, to declare his nominees for the top slots along with announcements of development schemes worth millions of rupees.

The official nominations for the top district slots in Rajanpur, Vehari, Sahiwal and Khanewal have not so far been made public by the CM while with the exception of Rahim Yar Khan and Multan, all the former zila nazimeen have been listed as the candidates of the ruling PML for the district top slots.

The official Public Accounts Committee has documented volumes about the alleged financial misdeeds of the district nazims. But neither of them is barred from campaigning for the top slots. Instead, the government has set its weight behind them to stage comeback comfortably, putting a question mark on the issue of good governance.

In Rahim Yar Khan, PPP turncoat Rafiq Haider Leghari has been nominated as the PML candidate for the top district slot by abandoning the former district nazim and once regarded as the kingmaker in the local politics, Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood. The former nazim was so powerful that he introduced the phenomenon of helping aliens like Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Jehangir Tareen and Humayun Akhtar return to the assemblies from the district. Observers say that alleged intrigues of Jehangir Tareen and Humayun Akhtar in power corridors against the Chaudhrys have played a role in creating mistrust between Makhdoom and the CM.

The previous district nazims of Multan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Riaz Hussain Qureshi, were not the choice of the Chaudhrys. The former made it to the nazim office through his own influence coupled with the party he represented while the latter was reportedly imposed onto the Chaudhrys by the then Punjab chief secretary Hafeez Randhawa.

However, for the LB polls this time the Chaudhrys have nominated the man of their own choice, industrialist Mian Faisal Mukhtar, for Multan’s top district slot. He is more known for the coffers he holds than his political abilities.

Although the elections for the top slots of districts and tehsils will be held in the last week of September, the nominations for these offices are said be aimed at helping the official nominees score maximum number of electoral college votes in the partyless elections where the title of the king’s man is considered more vital than the public support.