LAHORE, Sept 19: The district coordination officer (DCO) of Multan on Thursday became the first government officer in the country to be made the acting Nazim of a district, in place of Shah Mahmood Qureshi who had resigned for contesting the October 10 elections.
Mr Qureshi, a former PPP state minister and Punjab finance minister, was the only Nazim in the Punjab who resigned for general election.
The DCO became the acting Nazim after 10 days of Mr Qureshi’s resignation, as Naib Nazim had reportedly failed to get a councillor elected as Nazim at a meeting of the district council.
The Local Government Ordinance 2001 is silent as to what should be done if Naib Nazim fails to get a member of district council elected to a vacant post of Nazim for running the district government till the election of a new district head.
Official sources informed Dawn on Thursday that the DCO had been given the charge under the ordinance clause titled Removal of Difficulties.
Our Multan Correspondent adds: The Punjab government refrained Multan district Naib Nazim Malik Amer Dogar from exercising powers as acting district nazim.
According to an official handout released here on Thursday, the governor issued the order under Section 197 of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2001.
It was the same order which conferred the authority and duties of the district Nazim upon District Coordination Officer Maj Azam Suleman (retired).
The DCO was also directed to convene a meeting of the district council to elect the new leader of the house.
In another notification, the Punjab government has also refrained Multan Tehsil Naib Nazim Malik Abbas Raan from serving as the acting Tehsil Nazim after resignation of Ahmed Mujtaba Gillani.
Mr Gillani, like Mr Qureshi, is a PPP candidate for the National Assembly. He is the younger brother of former NA speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Tehsil Municipal Officer Feroz Saliana has been given the charge of Tehsil Nazim office.
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