LG system to be simple, authoritative: Fawad

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Sunday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had given three basic principles for new local bodies system in the province.

The principles based on empowering local bodies, elections to be held through direct polls and system to be simple, he added.

Talking to the media after the Punjab cabinet meeting presiding over by the prime minister here, the information minister said that law making would be based on the given principles.

He said that village council experiment in KP remained successful whereas there was union council system in Punjab like Sindh and Balochistan.

"It was discussed in detail in the cabinet meeting that whether union council is fine or village councils should be constituted in the province," he added.

The federal information minister said the government would have to give Rs 8 billion annually for the Metro Bus projects, adding that the audit report of the projects had been received and now forensic report was being prepared.

"Forensic report is a technical one so it will take some time, he added. He said the PTI wanted that its government should be a better one than the PML-N which should be based on the people's will.

To a question, he said that Nawaz Sharif had no political future so he should now pray for his personal future as a decision of the next case of Nawaz Sharif was coming soon.

"We have no personal enmity with Nawaz Sharif, he should just return the looted money of the nation," he added.

The minister said that the prime minister had directed to investigate all those records which had been burnt during the era of the PML-N government as whenever record was sought from the PML-N rulers, fire had burnt the record.

"Records will be re-opened after JIT and I think the most of the people from the previous government will be in jail," he said.

Commenting on the statement of the Indian army chief, he said that the Indian government was facing internal scandals, adding Indian Prime Minister Narendara Modi was facing Rafale scandal like Nawaz Sharif facing Panama scandal so the Indian government wanted to throw its pressure on Pakistan.

Fawad clarified that Pakistan invited India for dialogue but it should not be considered weakness of Pakistan.

"War is not in the interest of anyone, Pakistan and India have been fighting for 70 years," he said.

About the by-polls, he expressed his hope that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will succeed in the by-polls.