ECP orders fulfillment of requirements for LG polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday issued strict instructions and ordered that all constitutional and legal requirements regarding the holding of local government (LG) elections in Punjab must be fulfilled as soon as possible so that LG polls could be held immediately.

During its meeting here, the electoral body issued similar strict instructions and orders to the quarters concerned for the conduct of LG elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a meeting at the Election Commission Secretariat here on the holding of municipal elections in Punjab and Islamabad. The forum was attended by Chief Secretary Punjab, Secretary Local Government, Government of Punjab and Secretary Election Commission and other senior officials.

Raja said it was the constitutional and legal responsibility of the commission to conduct local bodies elections in Punjab and the federal capital. He pointed out that local bodies elections had been held in three provinces, barring Punjab, and due to some legal complications in the capital city of Islamabad, the elections were being delayed.

He made it clear that the commission was fully prepared to conduct local bodies elections in Islamabad and Punjab, and that delimitation of constituencies had been completed in Punjab while the demarcation work of the existing union councils and wards will be completed by July 23 according to the 7th national census in Islamabad.

The commission issued strict instructions and ordered that all constitutional and legal requirements regarding the holding of local government elections in Punjab and Islamabad should be fulfilled as soon as possible so that the commission could take immediate action to ensure local government elections.

Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman and Local Government Punjab’s Shakeel Ahmed told the commission that the new government of Punjab, for necessary amendments to the Punjab Local Government Act 2022 and preparation of a new draft law regarding local government elections, had formed a committee. The high-level committee, headed by Zeeshan Rafiq, Local Government Minister Punjab, has held five meetings and that the recommendations of the committee will be submitted to the provincial cabinet in the next few days.

Along with this, the forum was informed, in the light of the results of the new census, work had also started on new constituencies, delimitation of local areas and redistribution of the number of members in councils.

Earlier, Federal Secretary Interior Khurram Ali Agha and Chief Commissioner Islamabad Mohammad Ali Randhawa told the commission that the summary regarding the holding of elections in the federal capital and notification of specific seats of the Metropolitan Corporation had been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office.