The provincial minister Arshad Ayub vowed to fulfill LG reps demands
PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and representatives of protesting local government members reached a successful agreement on Thursday.
The government has agreed to a 20-day timeframe to implement the Charter of Demands.
Mayor of Peshawar, Zubair Ali, confirmed that the issues have been resolved with the government and that the final negotiations are set to take place. A government committee will soon visit Jinnah Park to make an official announcement.
The protest, which had been organized by local government employees, was sparked by the non-payment of funds for several years.
The sit-in of the local government representatives, held in front of the KP Assembly building, was met with a heavy-handed response from the police, including the use of tear gas and baton charge.
Speaking to reporters after successful negotiations, the provincial Minister for Local Government Department Arshad Ayub stated that the KP government has been working on the Local Government Act for the past ten months. He added that a comprehensive meeting will soon be held with the Chief Minister to address the ongoing issues related to the Act, and assured that the provincial government was committed to fulfilling the legitimate demands of local government representatives.
He emphasized that the demands for funding and other issues were legitimate, and affirmed that local government members will be given their due rights.
“The powers of local government representatives will be approved by the cabinet,” the Minister said.
Regarding amendments to the Local Government Act, he assured that they would be made in consultation with local government representatives.
Arshad Ayub also condemned the police’s use of tear gas and batons during the protest, stating, “Such actions should not happen.”
He acknowledged the frustrations of the local government representatives in KP, citing complications within the law and concerns over time being wasted in addressing these issues.
