Pre-emptive measures : Councillor-elects jumping ship may be disqualified

CM Khattak gives nod to amendment in local government act .

PESHAWAR:

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has given the green signal to amendments in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, enabling parties to have greater control over their elected LG representatives.

The decision was made during a cabinet meeting conducted at the Civil Secretariat on Wednesday. The new draft will soon be tabled before the K-P Assembly for approval, during the ongoing session.

Article 63 (A) of the Constitution stipulates a series of reasons why an elected representative can be disqualified after violating discipline enforced by his or her political party. The article has now been added to the LG act, bringing district, tehsil and town councillors into its scope.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Minister for Information Mushtaq Ghani said the new law will be applicable on local governments once members take charge.

The minister said cabinet members discussed the stability and efficiency of the local bodies and conditioned them with strengthening of political parties. “Under the new law, councillor-elects will be bound to follow party decisions.” Ghani said the law, extracted from the Constitution, will be added to the act as Clause 78 (A). “Whoever disobeys party directives will stand de-seated,” he added.



The minister termed the amendment crucial for the upcoming nazim and naib nazim polls as well as approval of budgetary allocations.

“The amendment will strengthen political parties at the grass-root level and help uproot practices like horse-trading and nepotism,” he added.

Need of the hour

Things have not been smooth for the ruling party ever since it swept the May 30 LG polls across the province. On July 13, as many as 30 district councillor-elects and 17 town councillors of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf submitted their resignations as part of a protest against the arrest of former minister Ziaullah Afridi. A possible reunion with Qaumi Watan Party, in both the LG setup and provincial government, is also on the cards. Sherpao had earlier allowed the party’s district chapters to decide upon their alliances of their own accord. Now that a deal is likely to go through, the new amendment will help him prise his party away from the likes of Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and Pakistan Peoples Party in different districts.

Course of law

In case a councillor defects or violates party discipline, the head of the political party can write to the election commissioner, naib nazim or presiding officer who are liable to respond within two days. The Election Commission of Pakistan will decide the matter within 30 days and de-seat the accused after the chief election commissioner’s approval. The accused will also have the right to appeal the decision with the high court within 30 days.

Flood rehabilitation

During the meeting, Khattak was also briefed on flood relief efforts in Chitral and other districts. He directed the relevant authorities to speed up the rehabilitation process and ensure the necessary funds are at their disposal.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2015.