LAHORE, July 10: The leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Pervaiz Elahi, has said those threatening to arrest nazims will have to account for the unprecedented excesses of their brief tenure in office very soon.

Addressing a meeting of district nazims from Punjab at his residence here on Thursday, Pervaiz Elahi said evil desires of the rulers to plunder enormous resources of local bodies could not be fulfilled because the system enjoyed the constitutional protection and could not be abolished.

The nazims expressed concern over the threats of freezing of the local bodies’ accounts and pressure for changing political loyalties and approval of development schemes of assembly members.

The former chief minister said directions being given to nazims for the approval of development schemes of PML-N legislators were a flagrant violation of the Local Government Ordinance. He said local bodies could approve the development projects of only their members (the nazims).

He said the Punjab government was, however, blackmailing the nazims by telling them that their budgets would not be approved if they did not oblige its MPAs and MNAs.

Pervaiz said the local bodies were autonomous and enjoyed constitutional protection, adding that they had their own internal and external audit system, but an unlawful sword of third party audit had been hung over the head of nazims to blackmail and harass them.

He said the local bodies were functioning under the provisions of the Local Government Ordinance to solve the problems of people at the local level and execute development works under a prescribed procedure in accordance with the spirit of democracy.

The provincial government, he said, was trying to paralyse the system for plundering their huge financial resources, but all its sinister designs would be foiled.

The dream of PML-N to establish civil dictatorship in every sphere of life in Punjab would soon be shattered, he said.

—Reporter