Administrators take charge of local govts in Punjab
By Intikhab Hanif
LAHORE: The Punjab government on Wednesday appointed administrators for local governments in the province after gazette notification of the Punjab Local Government Amendment Ordinance 2010 under which the councils and the nazims also automatically ceased to exist.
The appointment of administrators ended the four-year rule of nazims who were made controversial after the PML-N formed its government in Punjab last year.
The Punjab government also intends to shortly replace the district government system given by Gen Musharraf in 2001 with a local council system of its own choice.
The amendments made to the 2001 ordinance by the Punjab Assembly early this month and ratified by the governor on Tuesday also provide for the announcement of next elections in six months, and under the provincial election authority rather than the previous practice of doing so under the Pakistan Election Commission.
Sources say the provision to create a local election authority in Punjab has been made to avoid announcement of elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan under the existing Musharraf regime’s Local Government Ordinance of 2001.
“The Punjab government intends to hold the next local elections under a system of its own choice which shall be introduced through another law of the Punjab Assembly,” they say.
The administrators were appointed through notifications and senior Punjab government officers said they all would immediately assume charge of their new offices while performing their original duties.
They clarified that the appointment had been made under Section 179-A of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2001 after inserting the new amendments in it.
DCOs were made administrators of the city district and district governments, DOs (Revenue) of the tehsil municipal administrations of district headquarters, DDOs (Revenue) of all the other tehsil municipal administrations, and tehsil officers (Regulation) of all union councils falling in a tehsil.
As many as 23 junior officers working in the five city district governments in Punjab — Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Multan — were also appointed administrators of the towns where they were posted.
“The dissolution of local councils and removal of nazims was not notified as they automatically ceased to exist after the promulgation of the amended law,” a senior officer said.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/25/2010
” 
” 
” 
” 
