Tete-a-tete: Make local govts operational, says former governor

‘PPP will regain lost ground in 2018’

LAHORE: Local governments should be made operational immediately. Development budget should be distributed district-wise through a Provincial Finance Commission.

These views were expressed by Pakistan Peoples Party senior leader Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood on Saturday.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the former governor said allocation of development funds should not be left to the chief minister. “The Provincial Assembly isn’t about Lahore alone. All districts should be given their share in development budget,” he said.

Mahmood said megaprojects like the Metro Bus and the Orange Line Metro Train should be financed with funds left over after distribution of development funds among various districts. He said the alienation would increase in less-developed districts if the government continued to prioritise mega projects over their development needs.

“The government should first fix the health, education and sanitation sectors,” he said. Taking a jibe at the PML-N government’s emphasis on megaprojects, he said, “It seems the Sharif brothers are suffering from megalomania. Their priorities are limited to mega projects. They don’t care about the basic needs of the people,” he said.

Candidates aligned with Mahmood had won chairman’s seats in 71 union councils (of the 139) in Rahim Yar Khan in the local government elections held last year.

He said the delay in the establishment of local government showed that the rulers were not interested in devolving powers to the local level.

The absence of local governments was delaying resolution of municipal issues like poor sewerage and missing streetlights.

“The PML-N government is not interested in serving the people,” he said.

Mahmood said the PPP would regain its popularity in southern Punjab districts in 2018 elections. “Bilawal Bhutto will prove a true leader of the people. He has lost his mother and seen his father kept behind bars for no reason. He understands people’s problems,” he said.

On the terms of references (ToRs) for a judicial commission to investigate Panama Papers controversy, he said it seemed that the PTI had decided to launch a campaign on its own.

He said if similar allegations had been raised against a PPP government, it would have been sacked by now. “The Sharif family is a sacred cow in Pakistan. They are the untouchables,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.