By: Muhammad Ijaz Afridi
PESHAWAR: Provincial President of the Action Council Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Mayor of Mardan, Himayatullah Mayar, on Monday announced a province-wide protest movement to press for what he described as the constitutional and legal rights of local government representatives.
The announcement was made following a meeting of the Action Council KP held in Peshawar. Council members and Chairmen of the various cities were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Mayar said the protests would remain peaceful but would continue until the provincial government accepted their legitimate demands of the local government system.
According to the plan, the first phase of the protest will begin on December 19, 2025, when all tehsil chairmen across the province will hold protest meetings in their respective tehsil councils.
Following these meetings, peaceful demonstrations will be staged outside assistant commissioner offices in tehsil headquarters, district coordination offices in district headquarters, and commissioners’ offices in divisional headquarters. Letters outlining the demands of local government representatives will also be submitted to the relevant authorities.
While sharing the plan, he said in the second phase, a protest demonstration will be held outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on December 23, 2025. Participants will carry placards and banners, while meetings will be held with both government and opposition members of parliament.
He said a press conference will also be addressed at the National Press Club, Islamabad.
Mr Mayar signalled that the final phase of the protest movement will involve a sit-in outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Peshawar on January 5, 2026.
Mayar added that the sit-in would continue until the provincial government acceded to the key demands of local government representatives, including the provision of funds, transfer of administrative powers, and expansion of the local government system.
Mr Mayar said the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had himself acknowledged on several occasions that valuable time of local government representatives had been wasted.
On this basis, he added, a three- to four-year extension in the local government system was a legitimate right of elected local representatives.
He reiterated that all stages of the protest would remain peaceful, but stressed that the struggle would continue until their demands were met.
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