LARKANA, Jan 19: Federal Local Government and Rural Development Minister Abdul Razzaq Thaheem has said the local government law is being amended.

Talking to journalists at the residence of Syed Akbar Shah Rashdi in Pir-Jo-Goth here on Tuesday, he said the prime minister had asked the secretary for law to prepare a draft of amendments.

He said the secretary and he himself would finalize the amendments. He said it had been decided that the ensuing local bodies' elections would be held on non-party basis and the number of district and union council members would be reduced.

He said election for posts of nazim and naib nazim would now be held separately and the naib nazim would be entrusted more powers. He said union council nazims would not be members of district councils.

Responding to a question, the minister said the process of amending the local government law would be completed in February. He said the draft proposals would be submitted to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and would be sent to the provinces after approval by the president. He said the provinces would then implement the law through Acts.

The minister said the local bodies' elections would be held in April. He said no decision had so far been made to appoint administrators in place of district nazims before the polls.

He avoided a question about removal of four district nazims in Sindh, saying he could not comment on the matter because it was in the court. The minister claimed that he was monitoring the local bodies system and the National Reconstruction Bureau had nothing to do with the system.

Answering a question, Mr Thaheem denied that any army operation would be carried out in Balochistan. Referring to deployment of Rangers in Sindh, he said Rangers had been deployed in the province to control criminal activities as police had failed to improve the situation.

About the National Finance Commission award, he hoped that the matter would be resolved soon. He said construction of dams was necessary to store water.