PESHAWAR, Aug 12: Former District Nazim Azam Khan Afridi has alleged that the federal and provincial governments are working for some candidates in the local government elections.

He was speaking at a news conference in the Peshawar Press Club here on Friday.

“President Pervez Musharraf was the first to violate the election rules by campaigning for the nominees of the ruling PML in Swat, where he addressed a rally and asked people to vote for the PML”, he said.

He said theoretically the elections were being held on non-party basis but in practice political parties were fully involved in the process.

“However, it is a positive thing that federal and provincial ministers and advisers attend election meetings and announce development schemes”, he said and added that in this way problems of the people relating to gas, electricity and water etc, were being resolved.

Mr Afridi said that he had tried hard to solve problems of the people during his four-year term but he still felt that some of the problems such as water scarcity and construction of educational institutes in the city remained unsolved.

To a question, he said that he would contest for the post of district nazim for the second term if allowed by the party. “I am a worker of the PPP and if the leadership nominates me for the post I will follow the directions. Otherwise I will support the party’s nominee,” he added.

He said that he had drawn a plan for resolution of the water-related problems in the city and if he was elected for the second term he would materialise it. Under the plan, he said, a new pipeline would be laid to bring water from the Warsak dam to the city.

Furthermore, he said, supply of sui gas to all the localities of the city would be among his top priorities and he would also make efforts for improving law and order situation.

About participation of women in elections, he said his party was against keeping women out of the process and would extend support to them to ensure their participation in the polls.

He said that the government had reduced the number of councillors’ seats which was a step aimed at encouraging rigging in the polls. He also criticised chief ministers’ powers to suspend nazims.

“Nazims are elected by the people and only they should have power to unseat them”, he said.

He urged the National Construction Bureau to amend the law to provide for direct election of Nazims.