Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem Khan on Thursday broke into the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) office and took over the office of the mayor by force after the issuance of a detailed decision of the Supreme Court (SC), calling for the restoration of local bodies in Punjab.
There was no formal official handover of powers as the chief officer and other officers were absent.
The mayor, belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and other elected union council chairmen announced that they would hold protest meetings at regular intervals at the RMC entrance gate and no officer would be allowed to enter the office without permission. He said that the officers and the government who do not implement the decision of the SC will incur the wrath of the public.
When the mayor arrived at RMC to take charge of the post, the chairmen of the union councils (UCs) and the workers of PML-N chanted slogans. However, the UC chairmen belonging to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were not present on the occasion.
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The mayor, along with his supporters and colleagues headed straight for the RMC office after the verdict was announced. The elected chairmen broke the lock and entered the mayor's room.
The mayor said that they had reached the RMC to implement the SC’s decision while the government is violating the court’s orders by not implementing the decision.
He said the powers that be need to be reminded that the RMC happened to be the office of public representatives. He also asserted that 95 per cent of the elected representatives in Punjab belong to PML-N, which was why local bodies were not being allowed to function.
The mayor added that he and his supporters would audit the funds of the municipal corporation.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2021.
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