LG polls much bigger than those of NA, PAs: ECP

ISLAMABAD: The local government elections are much bigger than the national and provincial assembly elections as it cost Rs18 billion in total, the ECP secretary said Saturday.

He was briefing a meeting on the LG polls. He said the number of local body constituencies in Punjab is 25,000 and in 4,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

About 200 million ballot papers will have to be printed in Punjab and 100 million in KP. The number of ballot papers needed will be four times more than the general election.

The ECP secretary said overall the LG polls would cost Rs18 billion, while it could take three months to procure election materials under the Papers Rules.

He said the first phase of the polls in KP will be held on April 8 and the second on May 29, while in Punjab elections will be held on June 20, July 16, and August 8. The KP law minister said that the provincial cabinet had proposed local body elections on September 15, however, given the rising number of coronavirus cases in KP, it is not appropriate to hold the poll.

The provincial government wants to amend the local body law. But the ECP secretary said no amendment should be made in the Local Government Act which would affect the election programme of the commission. Meanwhile, the Punjab law minister said the Punjab government is ready to hold LG polls in September. However, the government wants to change the local body law, he said. The Punjab chief secretary said local body elections should not be held before August to complete administrative matters. The military land director-general suggested the elections in cantonment boards be held in a single phase.

The secretary said the results of the census have not been announced yet, to which Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said that local body elections could not be held on the basis of the 1998 census.