Prime Minister Imran Khan said has that the government will introduce a revolutionised version of local body system in cities and towns. According to media report, He said that the money allocated for local body system is given to MNAs and MPAs, which does not happen anywhere else in the world. The PM said that direct elections for the post of mayor will be held in the cities. There are 22,000 panchaiyats in Punjab, and Rs40billion in funds will be given to them. He further said that direct elections will be held for electing head of panchaiyat. Meanwhile Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz has decided to contest the new local body system in the Lahore High Court. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader has directed his legal counsels to prepare a draft to request the court for revoking the said system. He said the local body department is an important source to transfer the power at grassroots. Earlier, Governor Chaudhry Sarwar had signed a new law for local body system after the approval from the Punjab Assembly. The governor said the incumbent government is fulfilling its promise to transfer power to the grassroots. As per new system, the local body elections will be held within a year. According to the system, the new municipal system will consist of two categories that include municipal and mohalla councils in urban areas, while tehsil and village councils in rural areas.
The capacity of local governments would be improved and transparency in transfer of funds will be ensured.
A solid procedure would be introduced to counter crimes, and cooperation between the police and people would be promoted. Nobody can deny the importance of vibrant local government system in democratic countries but it seems that PTI has opened a new Pandora box as it has introduced new law for local body system in haste. Major political parties including opposition are terming it unconstitutional move and have decided to resist it. PTI-led governments in center and provinces should improve performance and take steps to provide maximum relief to the people. So for due to poor performance of the government, difficulties of the people are increasing and economic situation of the country is still not very stable. In these circumstances, it was better for the PTI to create consensus before introducing new local government system in Punjab.
