LAHORE, Nov 8: The Punjab government on Friday sent the draft of an ordinance for approval that sought to amend the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 so as to provide for party-based local elections as per a direction by the Lahore High Court.

The original law provided for non-party local elections which the court had rejected on Thursday.

The draft was prepared by the local government department in consultation with law department officials.It was learnt that the ordinance contained a number of other amendments to the PLGA but no details could be ascertained.

Earlier in the day, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan had declared that the provincial government would abide by the court ruling.

Our Sialkot correspondent adds: Speaking to journalists during a visit to the city on Friday, Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah aid the government respected the verdicts of the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court and was ready to hold local elections on a party basis.

He averred that there should be no doubt about the Punjab government’s intention of fairly conducting the local body polls.

The law minister also reviewed Muharram security arrangements at Adda Pasruriyaan and Mistry Abdullah imambargahs, pledging foolproof security for processions and other religious gatherings to all licence holders.

He said the government was trying its best to ensure peace and weed out terrorism from the country.

Chief Secretary Naveed Akram Cheema, Gujranwala Division Commissioner Khwaja Shamail Ahmad and Sialkot District Coordination Officer Iftikhar Ali Sahu accompanied the minister.