KP LGs complete 3 years without funds and powers

PESHAWAR: The Local Government (LG) system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has completed 75 percent of its tenure without funds from the provincial government, forcing the representatives to kick off a protest movement from December 26.

Mayors as well as chairmen of tehsil, village and neighbourhood councils from across the province have announced to stage a sit-in at the Jinnah Park and protests outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from Thursday.

They have complained that the LG bodies were not allowed to function for three years by denying them funds and powers. The first phase of the LG polls in KP was held in December 2021 while the second phase was held in March 2022.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal won a majority of seats in the first phase while the second phase was swept by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. There are around 131 city and tehsil councils in KP while the number of village and neighbourhood councils stands at 4,212.

Since the election, the mayors and chairmen of the councils as well as those of NCs, and VCs have been complaining of the non-availability of funds to run daily affairs and resolve various funds-related issues at the gross root level. There was hardly any developmental work done by the LGs during three of its four-year term for lack of funds.

Led by the Mayor of Mardan, Himayat Ullah Mayar, hundreds of members of the LGs last week staged a protest near the Adiala Prison to convey a message to the founding chairman of PTI as his party was ruling KP.

A charter of demands by the LG members asked for the restoration of the LG Act 2019 and the immediate release of funds to tehsil /city/metropolitan local governments and village and neighbourhood councils.It also demanded a two-year extension in the tenure of the LGs since they were not allowed to function properly in the last three years.

“Three years have passed since the first phase of LG elections on December 19, 2021, but elected bodies are still protesting for rights and funds. Despite repeated protests and meetings with former and current chief ministers, no progress has been made,” lamented Himayat Mayar, who is head of the Local Councils Association and mayor of Mardan.

He pointed out that after the second phase of elections in 2022, the government of the then chief minister Mahmood Khan amended the act to strip local councils of powers and funds, transferring all authority to the bureaucrats.

The mayor said that Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal had assured them that their demands would be presented to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressing the hope that the promise would be fulfilled.

“All the political parties in the LG system from across the province will participate in the protest kicking off from December 26. Apart from other demands, the LG members want a two-year extension as they were not allowed to function so far”, said Arbab Wisal Ahmad, leader of chairmen of the Awami National Party in the Peshawar Metropolitan Council.

Wisal informed many meetings of the association were held recently in Peshawar where mayors, chairmen of tehsil, NC and VC councils from all the districts representing different mainstream political parties turned up and demanded rights so they could serve the people.

A charter of demands prepared by the Local Council Association stated that local governments and TMAs and VC/NC were dysfunctional due to the non-availability of funds, and delivery of social and municipal services has been at halt since 2021.

“The elected representatives are deprived of rightful legal honoraria and other benefits since their assumption of charge of offices. The rent of offices of VC/NC has been enhanced and a notification issued but it is not implemented,” stated the charter of demands.

It added the properties of Tehsil and City Local Governments have been occupied by other departments or officers which shall be handed over to the respective LGs as mandated under sections 38 and 121A of the LG Act.

It said that the P&D guidelines may be amended and thereby chairman/ mayor shall be appointed as chairman of the Tehsil/ City Development Committee. The present formation is allegedly deviation of the spirit of the LGA and previous practice.

The demands included the establishment of tehsil offices of devolved departments at tehsil level must be ensured in the shortest possible time, nomination of tehsil chairmen and chairmen of NC/VC in BoGS, BoDS, Dispute Resolution Councils and other committees, boards at Tehsil, VC/NC level.