The government is all set to dissolve local councils and allow the provinces to appoint administrators from Aug. 14, 2009 onwards, said a news report. “August 14, 2009 is the cut-off date for dissolving the local governments under the summary forwarded to President Asif Zardari after vetting by the law department,” the report carried by the English newspaper The News said. The administrators will be taken from the bureaucracy to replace Nazims (elected mayors). The administrators will have a maximum tenure of one year under the same summary finalised by the law ministry in a meeting chaired by Minister of State for Law Afzal Sindhu and attended by provincial law and local government ministers. The summary was finalized during the meeting and the president can now sign it any time. Once approved by the presidency, the provinces will then be free to appoint their favourite officials at administrative positions presently being held by the elected representatives. The provinces have also been asked to submit drafts of their proposed legislations on the local government to the federal government latest by December 31, 2009, when the existing system would be out of the ambit of Schedule VI of the Constitution. The proposal to appoint political administrators was rejected with an argument that it would promote favouritism in the local governments and political forces would enter into a race. It has been left to the provincial governments to decide on the timing of holding elections to the local governments, which will be completing their four-year term on different dates, starting from Aug. 14, 2009 and completing the process by Oct.17, 2009. The provinces will decide about the mode fresh elections, whether on party or non
