PM stresses upon cooperation among public representatives to achieve SDGs

ISLAMABAD, April 11 (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Wednesday stressed upon enhanced cooperation between the parliamentarians and locally elected governments to further accelerate pace of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking at the concluding session of an international conference “Think Globally, Act Locally-SDG Implementation through Local Governments,” organized by the United Cities and Local Government Asia Pacific Region in cooperation with the Local Council Associations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about the role of local governments, the prime minister stressed upon maintaining a balance between resources and priorities of the parliamentarians and the locally elected representatives.
“The intent and purpose of the public representation at the parliament or at the local government is to achieve the development targets,“ he added.
The prime minister said elected representatives in the parliament and at the local system were expected to deliver and their duties with regard to development projects in health, education, sanitation, infrastructure etc, were inseparable.
The prime minister appreciating the local government system said it served as nursery for grooming future politicians and enabled the elected people to deliver.
He said Pakistan had experienced with different systems of governance in the last few decades and the third one was with the local government system.
All the provinces had their separate local government systems functional under their respective legislations, whereas the country had a parliamentary system at the center, which was an indication of the success of democratic system, he added.
The prime minister said politics were also based upon local issues and referred to a recent survey in which 42 per cent views attributed to the development projects as one of the main factors to attract voters.
Delegates from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, different development agencies, NGOs and large number of representatives from the local governments from all the provinces attended the event.
The prime minister said the intent and objective of these systems were to achieve development at the local level which would yield results with the passage of time.
He also observed that the system could create some pockets of excellence and also few areas of neglect, however, it could be termed as personalized system.
The prime minister said such priorities for development at the local level also gave way to conflict among the parliamentarians at the national and provincial levels, and the local government representatives. He stressed upon maintaining a balance between local requirements and the political ones. The system would deliver with political dividends reaching the local level if all balances were created, he added.
The prime minister said with collective efforts and cooperation among the public representatives whether in parliament, provincial assemblies or local governments, it would result in the high level of development.
The prime minister stressed that intent of system must always be optimal utilization of resources. Public representatives had compulsions and pressures and if they agreed among themselves, the basic facilities to the public would be provided irrespective of the party, which was in the government.
The prime minister said that he represented an area with difficult terrain, but the party had decided the allocation of resources in health, education and infrastructure.
Despite political changes, he could claim that they had achieved 100 per cent targets, as a result leading to achievement of SDGs in his constituency.
He also emphasized upon finding solution to the issues associated with SDGs. He said the world was fast shrinking and even use of coal by one country could affect others as well.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG) representative, Swiss ambassador and German deputy ambassador credited Pakistan for adoption of SDGs as part of the national development agenda. They also highlighted the importance of the local government system to help achieve the development agenda.