RAWALPINDI, Nov 15: Commissioner of Rawalpindi Division Haseeb Athar’s assurance that re-introduction of commissioners in Punjab poses no threat to the devolution of power under the local government system does not sound very convincing to the skeptics.

Commissioner Akhtar gave the assurance at a dinner hosted for him overnight by the senior officials of the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) on his assuming the newly-created office.

A Punjab government press release quoted the commissioner as saying that the new system would help solve the problems faced by the people by cutting down the procedural delays caused by lack of coordination between district and provincial-level departments.

But many elected representatives in the CDGR belonging to the PML-Q party see the new system as "ridiculous" and a coercive move by the PML-N. They say by reinstalling a bureaucrat above the elected representatives in the local governments the party in power wants to control its political opponents.

Potohar Town Nazim Hamid Nawaz Raja said the new system militates against law and morality. He fears the commissioner system would lead to never-ending clash among government institutions that would ultimately affect the people at grassroots level.

“Under the commissioner system, power has been vested in bureaucracy instead of public representatives. That clearly indicates that PML-N is not the party of masses rather it is political wing of establishment,” the town nazim asserted in a statement issued here on Saturday.

City Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas, whose office has been vacated for the new commissioner, told Dawn on Saturday that the Punjab Chief Minister Mr Shahbaz Sharif was serving the people by empowering bureaucrats against the people’s mandates.

“He (the chief minister) has proved himself to be a man of establishment but we would not surrender and continue to serve the people. How can a commissioner serve four million residents of Rawalpindi and the adjoining districts through few directors,” the city nazim said.

However, the newly-appointed commissioner of Rawalpindi division has said the commissionerate system will not affect the local government system.

Addressing senior officials of the city district government Rawalpindi at a reception here on Friday night, Haseeb Athar said the objective of the new system was to improve coordination and performance of the government departments, and should not be seen as a threat to the existing system.

“This will also help in resolving problems of the masses besides removing hurdles and difficulties confronted by government departments in connection with procedural delays and coordination at the district and provincial levels,” he said.