PML-Q expresses reservations over new local body system in Punjab

• PML-Q, key allied party of ruling PTI, expresses concerns over proposed new local government system in Punjab.
• Punjab government did not take PML-Q into confidence over new local body system in province, says Bao Rizwan.  
• Bao Rizwan walks out of cabinet meeting in protest.  

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a key allied party of the ruling PTI, Wednesday expressed concerns over the proposed new local government system in Punjab.

Well-placed sources said that the Punjab government has decided to hold local body elections across the province in March or April 2022. The provincial government has also finalised the draft of Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2021 and it is working to get it passed from the assembly in the days to come, The News reported. 

During the Punjab cabinet meeting, the PML-Q ministers expressed reservations over the new local government system in the province. The sources said that PML-Q minister Bao Rizwan walked out of the provincial cabinet meeting in protest after expressing reservations over the new local body system.

Bao Rizwan said the PML-Q ministers were not consulted over the new local government system. He said that the PML-Q leader should be taken into confidence regarding the new local bodies system.

11 metropolitan corporations to be established in Punjab

As per the draft of the new local body act, at least 11 metropolitan corporations will be established in the province.

Besides the 11 metropolitan corporations, 15 municipal corporations and 35 district councils will also be set up in the province under the new local body act. All local representatives, from the councilor to the city mayor, will be elected through a direct vote.

In addition to this, over 6,000 village and neighbourhood councils will be established, while each village will have its own panchayat across the province.

Each village panchayat will comprise five members and it will be given powers as well as a financial grant, sources said, adding that the body will decide minor disputes among villagers and will address other issues like street lights and provision of potable water to the people.

PML-Q says it's becoming difficult to support PTI

Earlier, on November 15, the ruling coalition seemed to be in a quagmire as a key allied party of the PTI had expressed reservations over the sufferings of the masses amid rising inflation.

In a series of tweets Sunday, PML-Q senior leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had said that it was getting really hard to go support the PTI government as an ally.

He had said the PTI government seemed to fail to mitigate the public sufferings and regretted that it was rubbing salt on the wounds of the public by presenting non-issues as serious issues.

Elahi had said the situation would worsen if immediate relief was not provided to the common man and suggested the authorities concerned to show seriousness in resolving all issues faced by the public.