Altaf Hamid Rao
RAWALAKOT (AJK), (Parliament Times): Political leadership and civil society representatives from various parties and diverse segments of the civil society on Sunday unanimously agreed to welcome the holding of local body elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir by the end of November this year.
Addressing a Cross-Party Dialogue on ‘Youth Empowerment through Local Bodies’ hosted in picturesque valley of Rawalakot, AJK, by the Center for Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR), and supported by UNDP; political leaders belonging to all major political parties of AJK including Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference called for emergence of an effective and financially empowered local government system in the State.
Our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid RAO reports from Rawalakot that while speaking on the occasion, SDGs Coordinator, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Syed Ali Hasnain Gilani highlighted the progress made on the seventeen selected sustainable development goals in the region.
He said that the implementation of these goals aims to address the areas of poverty, hunger, food insecurity, health, education, clean drinking water and sanitation issues, gender inequality, unemployment, environmental challenges and many others. He also highlighted the Youth Policy of AJK and the AJK Legislative Assembly Task Force. He said that the local government system is the soul of democracy and without it; there is no concept of a democratic system.
Former Minister and Leader PPP Sardar Abid Hussain Abid said that the Government should authorize the Local bodies and all political parties must devise training programs to guide youth in areas such as law-making, good governance, gender empowerment, accountability and conflict resolution. He suggested that elected councilors should be given reasonable remuneration and also be given administrative powers.
Prominent businessman Sardar Shahzeb Khan said that instead of fantasizing the Western model of democracy, we should turn to the Islamic principles which provide the best guidelines for governance. He also said that the local governments have to establish a system of taxes at the local level to generate their own resources.
President, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, District Poonch, Sardar Aurangzeb Khan said that the PTI government will hold elections because it is in line with Imran Khan’s political thinking. Sardar Azhar Nazar, President, Muslim Conference, Poonch District said that new leadership will emerge in the local elections which will end the current political status quo and people will look up to them as a solution to their problems.
Dr Waqas Ali, the host of the event and governance expert at National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, said that political parties should ensure that seats reserved for youth and women are given to genuine political candidates and not distributed among their relatives. He further said that the economic development and social harmony of Azad Jammu and Kashmir cannot be achieved without devolving power to the grassroots level and empowering the local community.
CPDR Executive Director Ershad Mahmud said in his speech that Azad Jammu and Kashmir had experienced a massive earthquake in 2005 and is now facing the challenges of climate change. Elected local government representatives can play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation processes.
Elected councilors are familiar with local issues and ground realities, and have strong links with the local communities. He said that the political and economic structure of Azad Kashmir will change completely with the local body elections and local representatives taking powers. Ms. Aniqa Aziz said that women should be given full representation in the local body system.
Ms. Mona Khan said that the political system is incomplete without the participation of women. One of the students of the UPR, Rawalakot said that the young people in AJK lack motivation and direction in life. They need effective leadership and representation at the local level to utilize their potential effectively.
Prof. Kausar Hussain Shah suggested organizing more seminars and dialogues to inform different sections of the society about the roles and functions of local representatives. Sardar Abid Siddique, Rashid Nazeer, Saqib Khan, Waseem Azam, Abdul Razzaq, Ijaz Abbasi, Riaz Shahid, Dr. Muhammad Naeem, Saud Iftikhar, Irtiza Muhammad, Sardar Shahid Rasheed and Sangatullah also addressed the event.