Old UCs restructured, opposition parties cry foul.
According to a notification issued on Tuesday, Peshawar DC Riaz Mehsud has been appointed as the district RO while AC Mumtaz Khan will be the RO for Ward 29, 30 and 31. Furthermore, AAC Abdul Nabi will serve as RO for Khalisa-I and II and Ahmad Kamal Khan will be Hassan Garhi-I and II’s RO.
The appointed ROs and AROs will serve in Peshawar’s 346 village and neighbourhood councils during the elections scheduled for May 30. The district and town cabinet will consist of 138 members.
Delimitation
The city’s old union councils (UC) have also been restructured and further divisions of neighbourhood councils (NC) and village councils (VC) have been made. According to a document available with The Express Tribune, urban UCs have been divided into two to three NCs while rural UCs have been quartered to village councils.
The province’s opposition parties have rejected the step and said the decision has been taken for political motives. They have urged the judiciary to supervise the electoral process to ensure transparency.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Awami National Party Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain termed the steps “pre-poll rigging”. He said the party will also agitate against the reshuffling of officials and will not let the government play foul.
Hussain said the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf-led government is dealing the subject with frivolity and is not serious about conducting free and fair LG polls.
He accused cabinet members of utilising state resources in preparing the ground for rigging and said the ECP should ban transfers and postings of government officials until polls are over.
Hussain questioned the rationale behind the delimitation and said some UCs comprise single villages while others cover over six.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2015.
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