A nazim (, Urdu: ناظم; from the Arabic word for "organizer" or "convenor") (similar to mayor) is the coordinator of cities and towns in Pakistan. Nazim is the title in Urdu of the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council. Likewise, a deputy mayor is known as a Naib nazim (نائب ناظم). The word naib in Urdu literally means "assistant" or "deputy" hence Naib nazim is similar in function to a deputy mayor. He is also custodian of the house.
The name which is used for the president of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the Islamic Union of Students in Pakistan, is Nazim-e-ala. The nazim-e-ala is elected for one year, and after completing that tenure, all the members of IJT who are called (Arkaan) elect a new one. The "chief nazim," or district nazim, is elected by the nazims of Union Councils, Union Councillors, and Tehsil Nazims, who themselves are elected directly by the votes of the local public.
Pakistan originally had a system inherited from the time of British rule, in which a Mayor was the head of a district. Under the Local Government Act, however, the role of the nazim became distinct from that of a Mayor, with more power. The nazim system was introduced after the commissionerate system, imposed during British rule, was lifted by the government of Pakistan. Now there is no commissioner for any of the divisions, deputy commissioner for the districts, or assistant commissioners, since the Local Government act was imposed in the country in 2001. The one exception is Islamabad, the federal capital, where the commissionerate system remains in effect. In 2009, the new government restored the commissionerate system in the divisions but the nazims also remain in power.
A Nazim is also empowered to decide criminal cases.
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