DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Awami National Party (ANP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday called on the provincial government to immediately announce the schedule for local government elections, saying further delay would worsen governance and public service delivery, as he also warned that the deteriorating law and order situation in the province required urgent and coordinated action.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain made the remarks during separate meetings with delegations of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), led by former governor Haji Ghulam Ali, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), headed by Peshawar district president Razaullah Khan, at Bacha Khan Markaz in Peshawar.
The meetings were attended by ANP Peshawar district president Arbab Muhammad Tahir Khan, general secretary Ghazanfar Ali, Metropolitan Peshawar president Arbab Rashid Sameen, Haji Ghulam Hassan Afridi and other party leaders. The participants discussed the proposed local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province’s deteriorating law and order situation and other political issues.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Iftikhar said the long-term solution to public problems lay in a strong, empowered and adequately resourced local government system. He regretted that both the federal and provincial governments were not serious about restoring an effective local government system.
He said holding local government elections and making local councils functional was a constitutional responsibility of the provincial government under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, but the KP government had continued to avoid fulfilling that obligation.
“Without the transfer of powers and financial resources, the local government system remains a symbolic structure,” he said, adding that elected local representatives must be granted constitutional, administrative and financial autonomy to ensure meaningful devolution of power.
Recalling the previous local government term, Mian Iftikhar said elected representatives had spent most of their tenure demanding powers and resources instead of serving the public. He said the ANP had consistently supported a strong and empowered local government system and urged the provincial government to announce the election schedule without further delay.
He warned that continued postponement of local body elections would aggravate problems at the grassroots level at a time when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was already facing serious governance, development and public service challenges.
Mian Iftikhar said political parties would also consult one another regarding possible electoral alliances after the announcement of the election schedule.
The participants also expressed concern over the worsening security situation in the province. Mian Iftikhar said conditions were becoming increasingly alarming and accused both the provincial and federal governments of ignoring the situation.
He warned that if timely and serious measures were not taken, the situation could deteriorate further with dangerous consequences.
He said people were being deprived of their constitutional, democratic and economic rights while terrorism had made life increasingly difficult, leaving the public feeling helpless.
He urged governments to rise above political considerations and adopt an effective joint strategy to restore peace, protect lives and property and eliminate terrorism.
Mian Iftikhar stressed that unity and cooperation among political parties were essential for restoring peace, combating terrorism and strengthening democracy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that all political stakeholders should work together in the larger public interest to uphold the Constitution, democracy and an empowered local government system.
