Minister for Information and Public Relations, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mian Iftikhar Hussein has said under the 18th Constitutional Amendment local bodies polls have been made provincial matter and the provincial government will ensure free, fair and impartial polls in the province.
Talking to delegation of Democracy Reporting International (DRI) led by Ronan McDermott here on Tuesday, he said that they firmly believe on democracy. He said they were the stand supporters of local bodies' elections and this impression regarding politicians was not correct that they were against this system.
Secretary Information, Azmat Haneef Aurakzai and Deputy Country Director Pakistan of DRI, Amir Khan Goraya were also present on the occasion. Hussein regretted that in the past, legislation was the basic responsibility of the elected representatives but unfortunately in General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law regime, elected representatives were dragged into the politics of construction of streets instead of legislation and developmental funds had also been placed on their disposal. He continued saying that at that time too, it was their stand that elected representatives should identify people welfare schemes and government departments execute it adding that in this way a better local, provincial and national leadership could surface.
The minister said that due to mushroom growth of electronic media in private sector, there was lack of trained staff and they often telecast incorrect and false news as breaking news to get lead on other channels. In such a situation there was a need of strong and strengthened government media and information department to deal with the situation, he added.
He further said that for the purpose, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved 10 FM channels and also a feasibility study was underway to start its own TV channel. He called upon the media to create awareness among the masses regarding the importance of local bodies' elections so that they could choose better representatives. The minister asserted that in this present critical situation, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was passing through a crucial time and they needed foreign assistance to counter terrorism as the government had already diverted its developmental funds of Rs 17 billion to the flood relief fund.