Minister for Local Government and Community Development Mian Mahmood Ur Rasheed has said that the local elections in Punjab will be held on May 15.
He said the government was trying to give a powerful local governments system. Before the PTI, no government allowed the local bodies to perform their duties, he added.
“Ministers and lawmakers are doing what is actually the job of local representatives,” he continued.
Mian Mahmood announced that a special plan has been formulated to finalise the arrangements for local government polls, which would be conducted in two phases.
He noted that the direct election as per the provision in the LG law would end corruption and strengthen the local governments.
The minister pointed to a typical pattern in which local government wards were reconstituted and abolished after each election and said it was regrettable that the repeated “tinkering” with the wards had weakened the LG system.
“We are making efforts to ensure that no changes are made in constituencies for at least 25 years,” he said.
Earlier this month, the ruling PTI and its coalition partner the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) vowed to jointly contest the upcoming local government (LG) elections in Punjab.
Meanwhile, local government elections will be held on April 15 in the federal capital through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the federal government to provide 3,900 electronic voting machines for the upcoming elections.
