Expressing reservations: JUI-F moves court against local govt act

Says those elected on reserved seats should also be eligible to become nazim, naib nazim.

PESHAWAR:

Following the Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has become the second political party to challenge some sections of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Local Government Act 2013 in the Peshawar High Court.

JUI-F K-P Information Secretary Jalil Jan filed the petition on Monday through lawyers Muhammad Jalalud Din, Issa Khan and Obaidullah Anwar. The provincial assembly speaker, local government (LG) secretary, law and parliamentary department secretary, among others, have been made respondents.

“Subsection 3 of Section 27 (of the LG Act) entitles only members elected on general seats to be elected as nazim and naib nazim, while it deprives the members nominated on reserved seats to be elected as nazim and naib nazim – although they are also public representatives, as are the members [elected] on general seats,” states the petition.



It further reads the election for reserved seats of women, peasants and workers, youth and non-Muslims in tehsil and district councils should be through a proportional representation system of political parties’ list of candidates on the basis of the total number of general seats secured by each party in the respective council.

“Subsection 7 of Section 74, which provides for elections in tehsil and district councils on party-basis, clashes with subsection 2 of Section 27, which speaks of non-party elections in village and neighbourhood councils,” it reads.

“These two provisions provide different systems of election in a single act, which is also against the provision of the Peoples Representative Act 1976,” reads the petition.

Talking to the media, Jalil Jan said his party does not want to create any hurdles in the way of local government elections but had some reservations over certain sections and wanted to remove the confusion before the polls. “The government itself is creating hurdles as it is yet to announce the date for polling,” he added.

Advocate Jalalud Din said they wanted transparency and there should be an audit of the local government department as is done in other departments. “The chairman of the local government commission should be neutral and not from any political party,” he stressed.

Jalal also said the chief minister has been given too much authority in the LG Act and removing a nazim from his seat is a power that should lie with the provincial government.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2013.