PESHAWAR: Peshawar Mayor Haji Zubair Ali leading chairmen of six tehsils, village councils, women and minority councillors will demonstrate outside the provincial assembly building today (Tuesday) to raise voice for their rights.

A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting held in the City Council Hall here on Monday with Zubair Ali in the chair.

A large number of local council representatives participated.

On the occasion, Mr Ali said the provincial government was depriving the local government representatives of their rights by issuing rampant directives for making them subservient to deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners. That, he said was not only tantamount to conspiracy against the elected mayors, tehsil and union council chairmen and councilors, but also indicated that the system was being deliberately failed.

He said the local body system could flop if the representatives were weakened. He said they were granted powers, but whatever authority they had was being snatched from them.

Union council chairmen of ANP, PML-N, JUI-F, JI and PTI and representatives of other political parties also attended the meeting, and announced their full participation in the protest.

In the next phase, they said they would stage a protest in front of the Chief Minister’s House, the office of the local government minister and at Banigala residence of PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2022