Daily Times

The legislators from the opposition benches in Punjab Assembly demanded the restoration of local governments in Punjab in light with the judgment of the Supreme Court.

The issue was raised in Punjab Assembly on Friday.

Former two-times Speaker and senior PML-N leader Rana Iqbal urged the government to restore the local governments directly elected by the people.

“There are 58,000 elected representatives of public and the Supreme Court has also given ruling to restore them but the incumbent government isn’t obeying its orders,” he said, while speaking on a point of order.

He also warned the government to avoid the contempt of court as it will not be in the favor of the government. Earlier, the same issue was raised by PML-N MPA Iftikhar Chhachhar during the question-hour but he was asked by the Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government to submit a fresh question if he wants to get detailed answer.

MPA Samiullah Khan of PML-N also demanded restoration of local governments in Punjab after the detailed judgment of Supreme Court.

Speaking on a point of order, MPA Samiullah Khan said that elected representatives of the people couldn’t be restored despite the fact that the apex court has given the ruling two months ago. He further added that the government of Nawaz Sharif was toppled by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1993 but later he was restored by the Supreme Court.

If a Prime Minister can be restored in light of the judgment of Supreme Court then why a Councilor cannot be restored, he questioned. He further added that Law Minister Raja Minister had given assurance in the House that new local government system will be introduced in Punjab but still local governments are without public representatives. He also asked the government to say something over the issue but Law Minister preferred to remain silent.

Earlier, the session of Punjab Assembly started after the delay of almost three hours from its scheduled time with Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari in the chair. Answers related to the Local Government and Community Development department were given by Parliamentary Secretary Ahmad Khan Bhachar.

In the Zero-Hour, PML-N MPA Manazar Ranjha said that the incidents of ransom are at peak in his constituency of Sargodha. Replying to the issue raised by MPA Ranjha, Law Minister Raja Basharat said that 38 FIRs had been registered against the gang making unknown calls to the citizens for ransom in Sargodha and other areas of the province. He added that the gang’s ring-leader has been traced abroad and red warrants had been issued for his arrest while the identity cards of 21 accused of anonymous calls had also been blocked through modern technology.

Replying to Pakistan People’s Party MPA Syed Hassan Murtaza, Raja Basharat said that according to the investigations so far, former MPA Shahaan Hakimeen Malik was murdered by his nephew. “I assure that Shahaan Malik’s killers will be punished according to law. After the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto, the PPP had its own government for 5 years but the killers were not arrested and the PPP workers are still chanting slogans. ‘Bibi, we are ashamed. Your killers are alive.’ However, our government is rying as much as possible,” he added. The Law Minister also presented the annual reports of 4 Danish Schools and 3 Centers of Excellence and Punjab Stamps Amendment Bill 2021.

The session was later adjourned to meet again on Monday afternoon.