In Punjab, the first phase of Local Government (LG) Elections will be held in May. For this purpose, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued directives to the provincial government to take all preparatory measures early so that elections can be held in the province.

This Tuesday, Sikandar Sultan Raja, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), presided over an important meeting on Local Government Elections in Punjab where matters were discussed in details. During the meeting, the CEC said that no intervention would be tolerated in the poll process. The local government members, the secretary of the Election Commission and members of the ECP were also present in the meeting. According to the press statement issued by Election Commission of Pakistan, the secretary of the Local Government in Punjab has suggested that election in Punjab province be held in two phases. He further suggested that during the first phase of the LG election, polls should be held in Division Dera Ghazi Khan (DGK), Division Bahawalpur, division Multan and Gujranwala division. In the meeting, the Punjab government assured that it will provide all the details soon. The ECP has also directed the Punjab government to take all the measures as soon as possible. The schedule will be issued shortly, after the announcement of delimitations on March 22.

Members of the civil society have lauded the decision and demanded from the government of Punjab to hold the local government election quickly so that citizens can get their issues resolved at their doorstep. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have promised that if they win the election, powers including financial, administrative would be shifted to the grassroot level.

“Women, minority’s representatives, farmers, labourers and youth must come forward and should take part in the coming election,” says Salman Abid, an expert on the local government system. He terms the local government as “a nursery for democracy” and fertile grounds from which leadership can emerge. Abid says that as Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2021 has approved government of Punjab and will be passed by Punjab Assembly in coming days, women will get representation. He holds that PLGO 2021 is better than the Local Government Act 2019. “Under the PLGO 2021 provision for representation of women has been made a part of the law,” he says. He says that the number of reserved seats from one to two seats per panchayat/ neighborhood council have ben increased.

He believes that it is a major development that the representation of women has been made possible in the five-member panchayat nominated by the village councils. He further adds that for the first time in Pakistan, district mayors will be elected through direct elections. Under this system, special seats have been allocated to disabled persons in the district council.

Arshid Mirza, the executive director of Baidarie, an NGO that works for the socio-economic empowerment of marginalised, vulnerable and excluded segments of society, says women and youth of Punjab should take part in elections as 30 percent funds will be given to local bodies.

“In this way, they would become part of the decision-making”, he says. Women’s representation in the local government system, he adds, must be increased to 33 percent. He refers to Article 32 of the Constitution of Pakistan and Sustainable Goal Development (SGD) 5. According to Article 32, women should be provided equal opportunities in the mainstream politics. He says that without participation of women, no country could flourish politically and democratically. The new local government reform, he believes, empowers women of Punjab. Mirza notes that it is not deemed proper within rural settings for one woman to sit among 5 men in the council and increasing the number of women to two as a beginning point will not only encourage gender balance but make it easier for women to participate as well as shift mindsets.

He says that women should participate or contest not only on reserved seats but also on general seats too to resolve their local issues. He thinks that political parties must issue at least 5 percent of total tickets to the women as mentioned in Election Act 2017. Underscoring the importance of awareness in terms of democratic participation and process, he says that special efforts must be made to facilitate the issuing of National Identity Cards to women so that their votes can be registered before the election. He also points out the capacity of local government programmes in aiding the fulfilment of rights of minorities. Development budget of local government should be allocated to combat issues of women. Women were excluded in the past, now the women will be part of decision making at local level. Local government gives senses of empowerment to the people hailing from marginilised community, said Mirza.

PTI believes in transfer of power at gross route level and it is a vision of Imran Khan said Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar, the governor of Punjab, in his meeting with Mahmood Ur Rasheed, the provincial minister for housing, urban development and public health engineering.

“Punjab’s LG system would be an example for all provinces to follow in terms of transfer of power taking place at the grassroots level for first time”, he hopes. The governor says that all efforts will be made to ensure transparency in the local government election.

The author works for The News. He can be    contacted at   sherali9984@gmail.com