The local bodies are considered the foundation of democracy and no one can deny the importance of grassroots level political systems.
Local governments play a pivotal role in serving the public and at the same time allow people to have a say in administrative affairs. They ensure a system of check and balance.
The local bodies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provice are being restored on the orders of the Supreme Court after a delay of two years. All the political parties had been waiting for this for a long period.
In the first phase of elections in KP, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is holding polls in 17 districts on Sunday, December 19.
The following districts will go on polls: Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Malakand, Bajur, Mardan, Swabi, Karak, Bannu, Tank, Haripur, Khyber, Charsadda, Hangu and Mohmand.
Results will be announced by December 24.
The second phase will see LG polls in 18 districts of the province on January 16.
The election campaigns are at their peak as candidates desperately try to woo voters and local elders to ensure victory.
First LG elections and six ballot papers
The tribal districts of KP, which were part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), will vote for a local government in their areas for the first time.
Elections in Khyber, Bajaur and Mohmand districts will be held on December 19, while the rest of the merged districts will go on polls in the second phase.
According to the ECP, on the day of the election, each voter will be given six different ballot papers to elect candidates for different seats. ECP officials believe the colour-coded ballot papers will help voters. They will get
- White ballot paper to elect Tehsil Chairman or Mayor
- Grey ballot paper to elect three General Councillors
- Pink ballot paper to elect a candidate on woman seat
- Light green ballot paper for farmers (Kissan) seat
- Mustard ballot paper for youth seat
- Brown ballot paper for minorities seat
Structure of KP local government
Under the new local bodies system, a two-tier system has replaced the older system which also had district council.
The new law does not provide for the district council and union council. Instead, there are village councils (VC) in rural areas and neighbourhood councils in urban areas (NC).
Tehsil Councils will work on the Tehsil level.
On Sunday, voters will stamp six ballot papers but elect eight candidate.
They would mark against three names on the grey ballot papers for three General Council (GC) seats. The GC candidate who receives the highest number of vote is elected not only the general councillor but also the Nazim of the village council (or neighbourhood council) and the members of the Tehsil Council.
The GC candidates who bag the second and third highest numbers of vote are simply elected general councillors to the VC or NC.
Every VC or NC will have about seven seats in total: one seat each for women, youth, farmers and minorities and the three seats for general council members.
This explains the use of five out of six ballot papers that every voters will get on the polling day.
They would use the sixth ballot paper, the white one, to elect Tehsil Chairman in rural areas and Mayor in urban areas.
This is a major change introduced in LG system. Mayors and Tehsil Chairmen are to be elected by direct vote. Under the older system they were picked by elected council members.
The Deputy Mayor/Deputy Tehsil Chairman, however, will be elected using the older method, that is, Tehsil council members will elect them.
For larger cities that serve as divisional headquarters a slightly different system will work. People will use the white ballot paper to elect the mayor who will head the metropolitan corporation.
In the first phase mayor wills be elected in Peshawar City, Mardan City, DI Khan City, Kohat City and Bannu City.
Candidates who will win the election as independent candidates will have three days to either join a party or remain independent.
Seats up for grab and candidates
In 17 districts of KP, around 37,000 candidates are running for 66 Tehsil Chairman/Mayor and 2,000 council seats.
Out of 700 candidates contesting for 66 Chairman/Mayor seats, only three are women. Only one party, Qaumi Watan Party, has given the chairman ticket to a woman.
The election commission has announced that 2,032 candidates on the village council level have been elected unopposed. This includes 217 general councillors, 900 women councillors, 285 farmer councillors, 500 youth councillors and 154 minority councillors.
According to the ECP’s data, the total number of voters is 26.1 million. Since the elections in the province will be held in two phases, on December 18, over 10 million voters will exercise their constitutional right to vote.
How powerful the local government will be?
Under KP’s 2015 local government act, 23 government departments used to be under the local government. This, however, has changed. By making amendments to the law, the number of departments answerable to the mayors has been reduced to ten. The provincial government will provide the local government with 30% of the development budget.
The Tehsil chairman will oversee primary education, social welfare, public health engineering, sports, culture, livestock, population, water and sanitation, and rural development.
Tehsil Chairman’s responsibilities include
- Providing development roadmap
- Setting timeframe for infrastructure development and delivery
- Coordinate with local administration if the need arises.
- Making yearly development and implanting it
- Presenting the yearly budget in Tehsil Council
- Presenting the bi-annual report of the local government
- Monitor government offices on the Tehsil level
- Sending quarterly reports of the government departments that comes under him to the district administration and relevant provincial departments
- Regulating markets and services through local administration
- Municipal officers will need the chairman’s permission to take action against the violators of municipal laws
- The chairman will also have the authority to discharge officers of the departments that comes under him through executive order.
- Recommending disciplinary action against local government employees
- Powers to appoint caretaker deputy chairman
Tehsil councillor’s power and duties include
- Approving tax and fines through the chairman
- Passing supplementary laws and code of conduct for service delivery
- Approving annual budget, short and long term projects proposed by the chairman
- Appointing standing committees for municipal and tehsil head offices
- Appointing accounts and finance committee, the conduct of business committee, code of conduct committee
Mayor’s powers and authority include
- Approving proposals for the construction of mass transit systems, expressways, flyovers, roads, bridges and underpasses
- Sewerage treatment plants, flood control protection, waste management, recreational spaces, libraries, beautification of city, monuments and community centres come under the mayor
Village/Neighbourhood council’s powers include
- Implementation and monitoring of development projects on village/neighbourhood level
- Recommending required development work in the area
- Registration of birth, marriage, divorce and death
- Organizing sports events on village/neighbourhood level
- Organizing cattle market and shows
- Monitoring the services and sending a report to the Tehsil chairman
- Collecting social indicators stats
‘New LG system is weaker than the 2015 system’
Awami National Party leader and former district Nazim Mardan Hamayatullah Mayar is of the opinion that the new system is weaker than the 2015 local bodies organization.
Although Pervez Musharraf was a dictator and his party even ran movement against him, Mayar still gives him the credit for introducing a ‘real’ local government system. The PTI government has abolished the district and union council, said ANP leader.
Under the 2001 system, Nazim used to be the chief executive of the district. They had 28 departments under them. Now, PTI has constantly been reducing the number of departments under the LG system, Mayar said.
Under the previous system, 30% of the provincial budget had to be
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