PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`s cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 to include a provision regarding defection by any elected councilor of a district or tehsil council.
Information minister Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani told reporters here that the cabinet had decided that Section 78 of the KPLA 2013 would be amended to add a clause on the defection of a councilor in it.
Currently, there is no provision in the KPLG Act to check defection by a councilor and to disqualify him on that ground.
`The cabinet has decided that if a member of tehsil, town or district council becomes dissident to his/her political party, resigns from party membership or casts vote or abstains in violation of the party decision, he or she would become defected from the party and then he or she would stand disqualified from holding his or her post, Ghani said.
The minister said the party chairman would first inform the naib nazim or presiding officer about the party status of the local council member through a notice.
He said after receiving the notice, the naib nazim or the presiding officer would inform the chief election commissioner about the councilor concerned within two days and the Election Commission of Pakistan would give decision on his/her membership within 30 days.
Ghani said after the endorsement of the Election Commission of Pakistan, the member of the respective local council would not remain member anymore and his/her seat would become vacant with immediate effect.
He, however, said the aggrieved person could file an appeal with the Peshawar High Court on the Election Commission of Pakistan decision within the next 30 days and that the high court would be bound to decide about it in 60 days. The minister said Section 78-A would be added to the LG Act 2013 in this regard and that the same was approved by the cabinet.
He said since the elections of local government representatives was held on political basis under Section 74 (7) of LG Act 2013, it was deemed necessary to add Section 78 -A to the Act. Ghani said under Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, membership of MNAs and MPAs also became void if they were declared to have defected. Bureau Report
