LAHORE, April 19: Members of the district public safety commissions will set up a protest camp in front of the President's House if the government inducts MPs into the committees.

The threat was delivered by Hafiz Ihsan Ahmad Khokhar, chairman of the National Coordination Committee for District Public Safety Commissions, here on Monday.

Flanked by provincial head of the coordination committee Syed Alamdar Shah, Mr Khokhar told newsmen it would tantamount to a personal defeat of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and win for the Punjab chief minister should the proposed amendments become part of law.

President Musharraf has been the force behind devolution of power and the Punjab chief minister has been trying to force politicians into the committee to take political mileage. Once politicians become part of these committees, the fate of these committees would not be any different from those of the past. It must not be allowed to happen, he insisted.

Explaining proposed amendments and cause of protest by them, he said the federal government had decided to induct members of national and provincial assemblies into these committees. That would not only institutionalize politics in them but also defeat the purpose of establishing these committees.

At present, the eight-member committee includes four elected members from district council and four independent members. The proposed composition will be one MNA, two MPAs, three members from district council and three from public.

They said the devolution plan was aimed at ridding the district government of politics. The proposed amendment regarding constitution of committees was against the spirit of devolution plan. Politicians should be kept out of district governments otherwise the results could be disastrous, they feared.

They said they have written letter to the president informing him about the consequences of the proposed amendments and requested him to intervene in the issue. The president must not let it happen because it was his system which would be at risk.

These committees have been working in 92 districts of the Punjab but have not been able to get approved policing system even for one district. It was largely because of opposition by the Punjab government, they alleged. These committees have enormous utility but were being hampered by politicians for their own interest, they added.