ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have directed the Law Ministry to finalise its recommendations regarding the local government structure with the consultation of provincial law ministries to transfer the local government system to the provinces from the federal government.
According to sources, the decision was taken a few days back during the meeting of the two and after detailed deliberations, Minister of State for Law Afzal Sindhu was directed to hold a meeting with all provincial law ministers to finalise the modus operandi in this regards.
According to sources, this inter-provincial law ministersí meeting would be chaired by Sindhu and would be held within a week to shape up the recommendations for the local government system that would be subsequently submitted to the president for his final approval.
Gilani had advised to the president to allow the provinces to process the draft Provincial Governments Acts, 2009 and to make enabling amendments to their Local Government ordinances for the dissolution of the local governments and appointment of government officers as ‘administrators’ till the time the provincial governments took a decision in the matter.
The sources said it was noted in the meeting that the local government is a provincial subject and it is the prerogative of the provinces to make any amendment to the Local Government Act as well as to change the law.
The Local Government Ordinance introduced during the Musharraf regime loses its constitutional cover in December 2009. The local government system was protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution through the 17th Amendment and it was stated therein that any amendment to the local government law would be made with the previous permission of the president accorded after consultation with the prime minister.
The issue, the sources added, was referred to the Law Ministry in the context of petitions in the Supreme Court so that the legal points in the petitions could also be covered before the decision of the Supreme Court.
The commissioner system has been restored in the Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan but not in Sindh due to strong opposition of the MQM, they said, adding presently there was no consensus among the provinces on the future of the local government system as the Punjab was opposing the immediate local government elections and had proposed the appointment of administrators till a final decision on the new proposal for the local government system.
The sources said in the Punjab both the coalition partners ñ the PPP and the PML - are at loggerheads on the issue of power sharing for the appointment of administrators and are opposing it tooth and nail.
While in Sindh, where the PPP and the MQM are the coalition partners, both wanted to extend the tenure of local governments for one year but the Punjab and the NEWF were opposing this proposal. However, the sources said, Balochistan preferred keeping its silence on the issue of giving extension of one year to the existing local governments.
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