Stalemate over provincial councils’ role resolved

KABUL (Pajhwok): The provincial councils’ members reached an agreement with the government with regard of their right to supervision and evaluation of local departments, spokesman of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) said on Tuesday.

Tawab Ghurzang told Pajhwok Afghan News the provincial councils’ members held detailed deliberations with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and the stakeholders settled the issue.

Ghurzang said that Mateen Baig, acting head of the IDLG, would share more details in this connection later in the day in a press conference.

Earlier, protest rallies were staged in most of the provinces against the Wolesi Jirga’s decision barring provincial councils from overseeing the performance of provincial entities. Last week, the lower house amended the law on provincial councils by a majority vote, barring PCs from evaluating and overseeing the performance of local government departments.

The decision sparked protests by PC members in several provinces and they closed their offices to put pressure on the lower house to reverse its decision.

Acting in compliance with orders from President Ashraf Ghani, the Independent Directorate of Local Government (IDLG) has launched work two days ago on a policy outlining oversight role for provincial councils.

rm

Views: 0