PTI prepares draft of local govt bill

PTI leader threatens to move apex court if bill not discussed in Sindh Assembly

KARACHI:

Opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi announced on Thursday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had prepared a draft for the Sindh Local Government Bill, 2020, aiming to empower local government bodies.

Addressing a press conference, the PTI leader warned that if the bill was not taken up for discussion in the assembly, his party would approach the apex court on the matter.

"Not a single bill presented by the opposition had been passed by the [provincial] assembly till date," he claimed, adding that if treasury bench members refused to debate the bill or did not approve it, the PTI would be compelled to go to the court.

Lamenting that local government institutions in Sindh lacked any authority and were unable to facilitate citizens, he said that the bill would empower them. "Civic institutions should be brought under the mayor's authority so that the city's problems are resolved," he stressed.

The PTI lawmaker then outlined the bill's provisions, stating that it called for the elimination of reserved seats for women in favour of their direct participation in elections, allowing candidates to contest elections for mayors on party basis, establishing Panchayat systems in small villages, bringing school and hospital administrations under the authority of the mayor and local councils and devising a formula to share funds with local councils, among other clauses.

"This bill has been prepared in line with local government laws in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces," said Naqvi, adding that it would also be presented before Prime Minister Imran Khan.