LAHORE, Nov 25: The opposition has decided to strongly resist the provincial government’s move of reversing the ‘devolution of power’, initiated by Musharraf regime, amending the land revenue act to provide legal cover to divisional commissioners recently appointed in Punjab.

PML-Q elders in the Punjab Assembly met informally here on Tuesday to devise a strategy for opposing the move when the Land Revenue Act (Amendment) bill is taken up by the house on Wednesday.

Opposition leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, who chaired the meeting, told Dawn that it was decided if the treasury failed to incorporate the amendments in the bill suggested by the opposition they would walk out of the house and seek legal recourse.

The opposition wanted that the elected representatives at the local tier of government should not be placed under the bureaucracy, he said. Terming the proposed legislation against the Constitution, he said the opposition would urge the government to withdraw the bill. (Through the 17th amendment the local government system has been made a federal subject up till 2009.)

“If the treasury tried to bulldoze the opposition on the issue, we would move the court of law to get annulled the piece of legislation,” he said, adding a writ petition for the purpose has also been finalised.

Giving credit to his party for eliminating the Raj era symbol of commissionerate system, he regretted the present rulers wanted to obstruct transfer of power to the grassroots level by reintroducing it.

Mohsin Leghari, another opposition member, questions the haste being shown in making the law. “The bill was introduced in the house on Nov 19, and referred to a special committee for vetting. The committee held two sittings – one on the same day and the other the next day – to finalise it, giving no time to the opposition to give its feedback,” he says.

Provincial Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, however, claims that all the amendments proposed by the opposition are being incorporated in the bill.

He says he will hold a meeting with Chaudhry Zaheer to finalise the procedure for accommodating the amendments.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry Zaheer has criticised chief secretary Javed Mahmood’s move to bus secretaries of 30 departments to Faisalabad for holding meetings there. He alleged that Faisalabad police were made to do three-day rehearsal for according protocol to the “Lot Sahib” and his entourage by blocking roads during their four-day stay in the town.

He said all rest houses in the district had been got booked for the entourage as the provincial secretariat in Lahore would remain deserted in the meantime.