From invited to uninvited: Councillors, nazims unable to enter LG convention

As Imran, Khattak lecture on, elected representatives from faraway districts unable to get past security


Asad Zia/sohail Khattak March 07, 2016
PTI Chairperson Imran Khan addressing the LG Convention. PHOTO: fb.com/ImranKhan.Official

PESHAWAR: Hundreds of aspiring participants were stuck outside Qayyum Stadium where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial administration held a local government convention on Monday. After several elected representatives were unable to get past security checks to enter an event to honour them, the celebratory nature of the event became another bitter marker of the chasm between grass root workers and the government.

The majority of elected representatives left behind on Bara Road had come a long way from their respective villages and districts. They waited in long, mangled queues for hours, but failed to get inside where PTI Chairperson Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak were to address LG representatives.

From pandemonium to podium

Taking the microphone, Imran said, “The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government will treat all elected members equally and distribute development funds without any discrimination.” However, village and neighbourhood councillors at the event came prepared to protest. They were up in arms against the BPS-14 scale given to them by the government. Imran stressed elected representatives protesting against being categorised in that particular scale would not be able to pressurise the government.

Imran echoed an oft-repeated figure, saying 30% of the Annual Development Programme was given to elected members and now it was their responsibility to spend the money for the benefit of the people. He reiterated 300 elected members cannot pressurise the government and those in office should appreciate the chief minister for conducting elections on the village and neighbourhood council levels.

The PTI chief claimed the CM and MPAs were only monitoring the local government system and not interfering in the hiring or transferring of officials.

Khattak interrupted

Village and neighbourhood councillors who came from across the province made a racket during the chief minister’s speech, demanding a BPS-16 scale as they lacked power to resolve the problems of people.

In response, the chief minister said LG representatives were not government employees to be demanding pay scales. “You are elected representatives of the people and you should focus on public issues,” he stressed.

Prepared with a list of complaints, Shangla district nazim Niaz Ameer Muqam said the government had set its priorities on the utilisation of development funds, but not all districts had similar problems.

He demanded the government provide funds without strings attached so elected officials may utilise them according to the needs of their districts.

Back outside

People left outside might have started out optimistically, waiting for entry, but as they realised the convention was about to come to an end, their rancour came to the fore. They quickly realised they would not be able to get through the gates as everyone was being checked for security clearance.

Having travelled from far—some from Malakand Division—to reach Peshawar a night in advance to attend the convention, they made sure their anti-PTI sentiments breached the stadium where Imran and Khattak were still wrapping things up.

“Why did they ask us to come to the convention if they had not planned to let us inside?” questioned Ismail Khan, a naib nazim of a village council in Shangla. He arrived in Peshawar the night before, but failed to get in. “The police is not letting us inside; the government just called us here to insult [us].”

Khurram Khan, a tehsil nazim from Mansehra, was also among the protestors. A Jamaat-e-Islami representative became the punching bag as demonstrators called his party and the PTI “liars”.

Munawar Khan, a village nazim from Timergara, was also angry for not being allowed to enter the stadium. “People are asking us what we have done for them in 10 months and we have no answers because we have only heard false promises from the government,” he said.

“We are getting thrashed in villages and today the government disrespected us by calling us here.”

Akhtar Khan, a nazim of a village council in Lakki Marwat, and other members rented a car at Rs10,000 for the day, but none of them were able to enter the convention.

Commuters were also on edge as protesters and road blocks meant long queues. The police had closed one side of Bara Road for general traffic by placing barriers, with diversions to other routes which were choked. Those attending the convention had parked their vehicles along the road.

Traffic congestion could be seen on Khadim Hussain and Saddar roads as vehicles coming to the stadium from the Gora Qaristan side had to take a U-turn at Sunehri Masjid on Saddar Road.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2016.


COMMENTS (1)

Raghu | 8 years ago | Reply Looks like a made up story. I saw the conference. It was not as worse as explained here and the car rented was for 10,000 Rs. Did they rent a Ferrari or what?
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ