Governor Salman Taseer and senior leaders of PPP Punjab Wednesday discussed in detail Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill with President Asif Ali Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, reliable sources told Business Recorder.
According to the sources, the members of PPP parliamentary committee expressed their reservations on the bill in its meeting on Tuesday. The sources said that the members of the committee were of the view that local government elections should be held under Election Commission of Pakistan and not the Punjab Election Authority.
Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, Senior Provincial Minister Raja Riaz Ahmed and Punjab Minister for Finance Tanveer Ashraf Kaira called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday and discussed this issue with him threadbare. They briefed the President about the relations with PML-N particularly with reference to Punjab, holding of next local government election and appointments of superior judiciary judges, the sources said.
The sources opined that some members of PPP parliamentary committee proposed to do away with the coalition in Punjab with PML-N, preferring to sit on opposition benches. However in spite of reservations, President Asif Ali Zardari has given a go ahead signal to support local government bill's approval from the Punjab Assembly to strengthen the reconciliation process being part of the coalition government in Punjab.
According to sources, President Zardari also directed the governor and PPP ministers to expedite their efforts to make party more effective at every level and prepare for full participation in the next local government elections. As per President's spokesman, Punjab's law and order situation, uplift projects and political situation also came under discussion in the meeting.