March 14, 2003	Friday	Muharram 10, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 13: National Reconstruction Bureau Chairman Daniyal Aziz on Thursday said the Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments (DML&C) has prepared a schedule for holding local government elections in all cantonments of the country.

He told Dawn that the schedule received by the NRB would be implemented soon and the process of local government polls in cantonments would begin within two months.

He said that the DML&C had informed the bureau about its plans regarding matters including delimitation of constituencies, preparation of voters list, receiving of appeals and setting up of polling stations.

The NRB chief said that all stakeholders had been directed to complete all necessary arrangements for holding the elections.

Mr Aziz said that the administration of all cantonment boards had a close coordination with already established district governments of their respective provinces to remove possible bottlenecks in the process.

He said that three technical committees had been formed to meet the provincial governments to learn how the provinces had successfully established local governments.

He said that Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had issued instructions to hold the cantonment polls as soon as possible, and the bureau had finalized the draft of new Cantonment Act which would be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting.

He said that the NRB was working hard to finalize the arrangements for holding local government elections in all cantonment boards. “We are also looking into the legal aspects of the system to be introduced for the first time in cantonment areas,” he added.