ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution urging the Election Commission to fix a practical date for holding local government elections after ensuring all legal and administrative arrangements are in place.

The resolution, moved by Dr. Arif Alvi of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) said the house is fully conscious of the imperative to hold local government elections in accordance with the Constitution.

The resolution demands of the ECP to carry out its functions as stated in the constitution and hold elections in a free, fair and transparent manner as soon as possible.

Earlier, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq said the government believes that conducting local bodies elections in haste could prove detrimental to the democratic process.

He said that the elections, if conducted as per the present schedule, will become controversial as the ECP is facing issues of printing of ballot papers and arranging magnetic ink. He, however, admitted that it was the collective responsibility of the parliamentarians to ensure timely conduct of local government elections.

Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) appealed to the Supreme Court to postpone local government elections until March 2014 to ensure for smooth free, fair and transparent polls.