Punjab finalises date for Local Body elections

LAHORE: The Punjab government has finalised a date for holding Local Body elections in the province.

The provincial government has informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that it will be ready to hold Local Body elections on December 7.

In its request to the ECP, the Punjab government stated that objections regarding delimitation will be removed in one week. Following this, the notification for delimitation would be issued.

The PPP and PTI have expressed their reservations over the Punjab government’s announcement to hold the elections on a non-party basis.

The Supreme Court during proceedings of the Local Body elections case has repeatedly called upon provincial governments to conduct polls at the earliest.

During its proceedings on Monday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) government to complete legislation regarding the Local Body elections prior to its next appearance to the court.

Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has criticised the failure of the KP government over holding Local Body elections. “What happened to the KP government’s claim of holding polls within six months? The Punjab government has already given a date.”