By Haroon Siraj
SWAT:- Centre for Peace and Development Initiative (CPDI) in collaboration with National Endowment for Democracy (NED) organized a one-day seminar on Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2021 at the local hotel. The main objective was to explore strengths, weakness and opportunities in the new proposed law. A wide range of experts on local government, gender, politics, politicians, and academics participated in it.
Stressing the need of broad-based consultative processes, Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, Executive Director, CPDI shed light on the need of increasing the empowerment component so that the elected local government representatives feel the responsibility along side accountability. He also said that without having local governments, problems of urbanisation and modern living cannot be resolved or even addressed.w
Mr. Qazi Mubeen Uddin, one of the architects of the new Local Government Ordinance 2021, shed light on the positives of the law. He said that the Centre for Peace and Development Initiative . He said that effort has been made to make it more inclusive and according to the modern and local sociopolitical and economic realities. He said, persons with disabilities, women, transgenders, traders and various other citizen groups have been given assured representations in various tiers of the government.
Ms. Sania Kamran said, “Workers must be given priority over others when allocating tickets for elections while technocrat seats must be added at various tiers”.
Mr. Fared Piracha, a politician said that local body representatives much be given honorariums like representatives at the federal and provincial levels. He emphaised that these laws must be available in Urdu language.
Ms. Bushra Ikhlaq, member of a civil society organization, said, 33% women must ensured at all levels of the committees and boards leading progressively to 50%.
A female MPA of PMLN said that, the Deputy Mayors positions must have women representation even with special provision Mr. Nasir Abbas Baloch, a local politician from Jhang argued that agriculture must be part of the local government system to improve the supply chains of various inputs.
There was a consensus that local government law be made permanent with constitutional protection. It should be subject to amendments only, and not arbitrary dismantling of the whole Act as it was done with the Local government/Bodies Act of 1984, 2001, 2013 etc.
It was also agreed and demanded that local government must be taken as governments exactly like federal and provincial governments not bodies.
The participants lauded the importance of local government system and appealed to the government of install this tier at the earliest possible.
