The Punjab Assembly Tuesday passed the Punjab Local Government Bill 2019 and The Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighborhood Councils Bill 2019 amid walkout and protest of opposition parties. The Speaker rejected all the amendments of the opposition saying they were lapsed.
Speaker Pervez Elahi said the opposition submitted the amendments late, so according to law these amendments were lapsed. However, using his powers the Speaker allowed the opposition members to speak on the bill. Earlier, while talking to media outside Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shahbaz announced to challenge the Local Government Bill in the court. He said that PML (N) rejected this bill passed by the government in a hurry. He questioned that why government was in hurry to dissolve the local bodies and wanted to appoint administrators for misusing the funds. He announced that to oppose the Bill at every level.
While speaking on the floor of House, PML (N) MPA Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan termed the local government bill as a bad legislation. He demanded that the Bill should be referred to a Select Committee with the instructions to report by May 31, 2019. He also demanded that the Bill should be circulated for the purpose of eliciting opinion.
Ahmad Khan during his speech admitted that they submitted the amendments late because they got the copy of the Bill late. He also said that normally Tuesday was private members day and government business was not presented in the House that's why the opposition presented the amendments late. PML (N) Waris Shad said that the government cannot dissolve the local bodies according to the constitution.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Law Minister Raja Basharat said the Local Government Bill 2019 was tabled in the Punjab Assembly after completing all legal formalities and added that the opposition's objections to the bill were against facts. The law minister said the government wanted to take the opposition along to enact laws in the best interest of the people.
"The new Local Government Act would not only empower people at grassroots level but also resolve their local issues at their doorsteps," he said.
While responding to the criticism of opposition, Raja Basharat said that the Bill was discussed in Standing Committee for three days. He said it was the PML (N) which did not want to give powers to local body representatives because in their tenure local body elections were held in 2015 on the directions of Supreme Court and the local body representatives took oath in 2017.
According to the Bill, the tenure of the local bodies will be four years. The elections of Tehsil, Municipal Cooperation, Municipal Committee will be held on party basis while the elections of Mohalla and Village Council will be held on non-party basis. The elections of local bodies will be held in one year.
Earlier, Punjab Minister for Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Muhammad Sibtain Khan during the question hour told the House that the Punjab government will plant four hundred and ninety million trees across the province during the next five years.
Responding to another question, Muhammad Sibtain Khan said that Wildlife Protection Force has established for the life-safety of Wildlife in Punjab.
Punjab Minister for Information and Culture, Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari told the House that Punjab government has allocated eighty million rupees for artists' support fund for the welfare and betterment of the people of art and culture.
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