ISLAMABAD: Just ahead of the first ever local government elections in the federal capital, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday decided to hand over the reins of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to the newly appointed state minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

PML-N MNA Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was recently appointed State Minister for CADD.

Prior to this, CDA was under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division.

The civic authority had earlier been under the administrative control of Cabinet Division

Mr Chaudhry’s name has previously been mentioned by various quarters for his alleged support for the CDA’s proposal to set up a housing society on the land of the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC), whose lease expired years ago.

However, opposition parties and the Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research rejected the proposal, which is still waiting for the prime minister’s approval. The case is currently being heard in the Supreme Court.

CADD is supposed to look after the affairs of Islamabad’s education and health sectors, but now the civic authority will also come under its control.

“The minister has shown his resolve to come up to the expectations of the prime minister and to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to him.

“He has always vowed to transform Islamabad into model capital with all the important civic amenities,” a CADD spokesperson said.

After the November 30 elections, most CDA departments will be transferred to the Metropolitan Corporation.

A senior CDA official told Dawn that the prime minister office was not satisfied with the CDA’s performance, which is why he gave direct administrative control of the authority to the CADD minister.

“I think, the newly appointed minister will play important role in smooth transfer of CDA’s departments to Metropolitan Corporation in accordance with the LG Act,” he said.

Political pundits believe that appointment of an MNA from Islamabad as state minister and the subsequent decision to place administrative control of CDA under CADD, will give PML-N candidates contesting LG Polls a boost.

“It’s good news for the people of Islamabad. The minister, who hails from Islamabad, will resolve their issues. People have been suffering at the hands of CDA officers for a long time,” PML-N MNA Malik Ibrar said.

When asked, he said there is no agenda for attracting voters in the local government elections.

“The appointment of Dr Tariq as minister will not affect our election campaign because, being minister, he cannot take part in the election campaign, so there is no question of influencing the election,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015