Provinces authorized to hold LB polls after 18th Amendment: Kaira

OSLO (Norway), Sept 4 (APP): Federal Minister for Information and
Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday said that the provincial
governments were authorized to hold local bodies elections after the
passage of 18th Consitutioanl Amendment.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its allies in the Sindh
government have reached consensus to hold local bodies polls in the
province before the general elections, the Information Minister told
APP.
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had guided the negotiating teams of the PPP and its partners over this issue.
The minister said that under the 18th Amendment, the local bodies system was now not in the domain of the Federal Government, meeting
the long-standing demand of provincial autonomy.
"In accordance with Article 140-A of the Constitution, the
provinces are empowered to hold local bodies polls," he added.
Qamar Zaman Kaira said that there were coalition governments
in all the provinces. The PPP and its allies were in power in Sindh,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its allies were ruling Punjab province, he added.
He said that the PPP had been negotiating with its coalition
partners for holding local bodies polls in Sindh for long.
Different drafts regarding the local body polls have been discussed with MQM, ANP and PML (Functional), he added.
The minister said that initially no final decision about the local body election was possible as the voter lists were not ready.
"Since the computerized voter lists have now been compiled as
well as the demarcation of union councils, therefore, after consultation with the allies, we have finally decided to hold the polls," he added.
He said that the local bodies polls would transfer power
to the grassroots level. It will strengthen democracy, institutions
and the political system as the common man will have an effective
representation in the government, he added.
Kaira said that the provincial governments of Punjab, Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan would decide on holding local
bodies polls in their respective provinces.