Outgoing Nazims opt for legal action against appointment of administrators

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: Nazims of various ranks from all over Balochistan have decided to move the Balochistan High Court (BHC) against the government decision to replace the outgoing heads of district governments with “administrators.”

An emergency meeting of Balochistan’s nazims, heads of local governments, took place in Quetta under the supervision of Mir Maqbool Ahmed Lehri, the city district nazim of Quetta, to ponder over the appointment of district administrators to look after the affairs of districts until fresh elections are held for the local bodies.

The current term of the district governments is going to end on December 31^st. The government justifies the appointment of administrators in place of nazims in order to ensure transparent local government elections. It says the presence of the existing nazims is likely to jeopardize the possibility of transperant elections. On their part, the outgoing nazims suspect the government of brining administrators loyal to the coalition Balochistan government in order to influence the outcome of next local government polls.

The impromptu meeting of the nazims was attended by Mir Hashim Khan Nothezai, (district nazim Dalbandin), Mir Shaukat Ali Baloch, (Kharan), Maulana Anwaruddin (Pishin), Molavi Mohammad Sarwar (Zhob) and several others.

Mir Maqbool Lehri told the media that some district and union nazims could not ensure their presence in the meeting due to its urgent call. However, they had fully given the participants on the meeting the mandate to make decisions pertaining to a final future strategy.

The fresh meeting strongly condemned the government decision to replace district nazims with administrators by terming it as contradictory to the constitution of the country.

Quoting article 159 of the Local Bodies Ordinance and Article 119 of the Constitution of Pakistan, Lehri said there was no concept of Administrators in the local government system introduced by former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf. Transfer of power can only take place if one nazim hands over power to a newly elected nazim.

He said all nazims had agreed to move the Balochistan High Court against the official decision.