Decision to hold deputy chairmen’s elections hailed

MANSEHRA: The chairmen of the village and neighbourhood councils on Saturday lauded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s decision to hold the election of deputy chairman of the tehsil councils across the province.

“A year has passed since the installation of tehsil governments across the province but these bodies are still without funds and monthly expenses as elections of presiding officers are yet to be held,” Basharat Ali Swati, the chairman of Safada Village Council, told reporters here.

A group of village and neighbourhood councils chairmen led by Basharat Ali Swati lauded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa LG department, asking the secretary Election Commission of Pakistan to appoint the returning officers to hold elections of presiding officers tehsil councils across the province.

“We expect that the entire elections process will be completed within a week or so following which the development funds, honourarium and overhead expenses withheld for the last almost a year could be released,” Swati added.

Malik Mumtaz, the chairman of the Lassan Thakral village council, told the media that the local government system failed to achieve its objectives as the elections of the presiding officer tehsil councils couldn’t be held so far.