MULTAN: Civil society organisations demanded the Punjab and Sindh governments conduct local government elections on their scheduled dates.

In a joint press conference, representatives of Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI), ActionAid-Pakistan, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, Pattan Development Organisation, Aurat Foundation, Sangat Foundation, Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Centre for Human Rights Education, National Commission of Justice and Peace and Women in Struggle for Empowerment on Sunday said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recently vowed to complete the local government (LG) elections in all provinces by the end of February 2014.

They said despite all the violence, the elections in Balochistan were peacefully conducted. They demanded the Punjab and Sindh governments conduct elections on the scheduled dates of Jan 18th and 30th, and ensure the polls are free, fair, transparent and peaceful.

They also demand the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government complete all prerequisites for the elections and announce the election date without any delay.

Azhar Lashari of RDPI said for last several years, civil society organisations had been struggling for a decentralised, democratically elected and autonomous local government system in Punjab that ensured, proportionate and meaningful representation of women, peasants, labour and minorities. He said an ideal LG system should also have participatory spaces whereby common citizens can take part and influence decisions, policies and plans pertaining to their development; and well-defined procedures for social accountability.

They also expressed serious reservations on the Punjab Local Government Act 2013, which they said undermined autonomy of local governments and gave undue powers to provincial government to meddle in the affairs of local governments, supervise and monitor them, and even to dissolve them.

They said if the local or district-level affairs were to be run by the provincial government, what purpose would the local governments to be established after the elections serve?

They said unlike the Local Government Act 2001 that provided forums like Citizens Community Boards, the PLGA 2013 did not allow any such participatory spaces to citizens. They also added that in the PLGA 2013, seats for women, labour and minorities had been reduced as compared to the 2001 level.

The civil society said the Punjab government had recently carried out delimitation of wards and councils, but claimed it had been done “without proper data”. “Delimitation of wards and councils thus made is unequal and non-transparent,” they said.

“We demand open and direct elections for all seats giving opportunities to all to come in fair process, the parliamentarians and political parties to revisit the PLGA 2013 and revise it in accordance with the spirit of Article 140-A (1), at least 33 per cent seats should be reserved for women in local governments system and all the local government representatives should be directly elected,” the civil society demanded.