PESHAWAR, Oct 16: The provincial government on Saturday strongly condemned a press statement of Peshawar Nazim Azam Afridi for accusing the government of turning local governments into testing laboratories and challenging the government for an open debate.

According to an official statement issued here, an NWFP government spokesman said this point of view by a local body's representative was not warranted and was prejudiced against the executive authority of the government.

He had denied the allegations levelled by the district Nazim regarding interfering in the affairs of the local governments, adding that the MMA firmly believed in clear politics. It was trying to maintain congenial atmosphere among all the tiers of government, he said.

The spokesman, however, made it clear that the statement of the district Nazim was in violation of Section 4 of the Local Government Ordinance 2001, and was tantamount to crime.

The Nazim while addressing the council session on Wednesday had blamed the provincial government for using local government as testing laboratories.

He had accused the government of interfering into the affairs of local councils and warned it against the alleged involvement in the local governments.

He had also threatened to unveil some 'secrets' about the government.-APP