ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Women councillors and members of civil society groups held a rally here on Friday to protest against the government's decision to reduce the number of union council (UC) seats from 21 to 13.

Holding torches and placards, nearly 200 people marched from China Chowk to the Parliament House, where they later staged a sit-in. Chanting slogans, they termed the move anti-people and a conspiracy hatched by the powerful elite to marginalize the masses and keep them out of decision-making processes.

The protesters said the decision to amend the Local Government Ordinance would compromise the objectives that decentralization scheme had sought to achieve. "It is a dangerous move," a participant said.

"The elite has captured the seats up top. They cannot see women, peasants and labourers engaged in the decision-making process. They have either pushed or blackmailed the government to reduce the number of union council seats.

Now the political elite, nazims, MPAs and MNAs want to push the people out of the system and take over the reigns of power to suppress the nation", another activist said.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Women Development Nilofer Bakhtiar, in a statement on the occasion, said: "The rights of the people will not be trampled over. Women's representation will remain 33 per cent at the union council level under the proposed changes in the LG Ordinance. Your protest must remain peaceful."

However, the participants expressed their dissatisfaction over the adviser's statements. A petition was handed over to her which said representatives of Women Councillors Network would like to register the protest in the strongest terms against the government's decision to amend the LG Ordinance which would seriously compromise the objectives of the devolution plan.

It said people were concerned over the reduction in the number of union council seats, which would also bring down the number of reserved seats for women, peasants, workers and minorities.

Genuine support base for reforms that decentralization had created among the middle and lower-middle classes may now erode after the government's decision to squeeze their political space, the petition said.

The move would seriously impair the ability of socially and politically marginalized groups to become part of the local level decision-making institutions. A parallel theatre performance was also arranged, sending a message that the government's decision was unacceptable.

The protesters asked the president to look into the matter and ensure that all such amendments to the LG ordinance that were contradictory to its spirit and objective were be withdrawn.

The demonstration was organized by Pattan Development Organization in collaboration with Action Aid Pakistan, Christian Study Centre, SDPI, Aurat Foundation and various other local NGOs.