3 provinces ask govt to rescind LG Ordinance
By: Irfan Bukhari
ISLAMABAD - The future of existing local government system is in
great jeopardy as three out of four provinces including Punjab, NWFP
and Balochistan in an inter-ministerial meeting here on Saturday
asked the government to rescind Local Government Ordinance 2001
dubbing it the ‘brainchild of a military dictator’.
The reliable sources told TheNation that in the inter-provincial
meeting of LG&RD ministers, the three above-mentioned provinces not
only asked the government to revoke incumbent local government
system but also advised the President through federal ministry that
existing district governments should be dissolved immediately so
that they could not present next fiscal year 2009-10 budgets in
their respective districts.
“We are going to write to President Asif Ali Zardari in a day or two
to put a ban on the development budget of district governments”,
said Punjab LG&RD Minister, Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa while talking
to TheNation. He said that if sitting district governments would
present and pass their development budgets in the ending days of
their tenure, provincial governments would have to bear their cost
in the following months. He said that as LG system had been placed
under 6-Schedule of the Constitution therefore Provincial Assemblies
could neither dissolve district governments nor bar them from
presenting development budgets for the fiscal year 2009-10.
As per sources, Sindh was in favour of keeping existing local
government system intact with necessary amendments and also proposed
that Nazims should be given extension of one year in their tenure.
It is pertinent to mention here that major coalition partner of PPP
in Sindh Government, MQM, is the staunchest supporter of existing
LGs system and has frequently asked PPP top command not to abolish
it.
The Nation: June 07, 2009
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