- Says CM will exercise his powers on mayor, district committee chairman on the recommendations of LG Commission
The Punjab government will hold Local Government (LG) elections by September 15, said Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, while addressing a media briefing after the provincial assembly’s session on Friday.
Briefing the journalists about the details of the Punjab Local Government Bill 2013, Sanaullah said the matter of holding LG polls by the deadline of September 15 next as set by the SC, was discussed at the advisory committee of the Punjab Assembly and it was found that holding election within this time was quite possible.
Flanked by Punjab Law Secretary Law and Press Gallery President Babar Dogar, the minister shed light on the salient features of the LG bill which has been tabled before the Punjab Assembly and said it will be transacted into a law by August 15 next after thorough debate in the House. He said the best LG law has been prepared to create a balanced system with focus on addressing the public woes efficiently and at the earliest at the grass root level.
To a question that separate constitution of the District Education and District Health Authorities amounts to running a system within the system, the minister that both the authorities will be represented by the elected members and have been constituted to meet demand of the donors who provide assistance in these areas.
To a question that the mayor of the Metropolitan Corporation and the Municipal Corporation and chairman of the District Committee will act at the ‘whims’ of the chief minister who would also be authorised to suspend them on misconduct, Sanaullah said that this was not a new concept but the previous law also contained this provision. However, he said this time, it has been made more stringent as the chief minister as chief executive of the province will exercise his powers in this regard only on the recommendations of the Provincial Local Government Commission.
The minister informed that the new law will supplant the DCOs with Deputy Commissioners. He said the executive magistracy through the law will not be restored however that will be done with the passage of time.
The minister denied when a questioner asked if the system was going to establish supremacy of the bureaucracy over the elected members as none of the office and police would be subject to their command.
The minister invited the media, the civil society and the public large to come forward and share input to the betterment and improvement of the LG law if they find any grey area anywhere therein.