MURREE, Oct 30: With local bodies’ elections in Punjab just a month away, the prospective candidates on the hill station have started flexing their muscles, though the schedule for the elections is yet to be announced.

At present, Murree Tehsil has 15 union councils. Under the proposed delimitation plan, eight union councils including Rawat, Murree City, Darya Gali, Ghorra Gali, Namble, Tret, Mussiarri and Charhan will be included in Murree Municipal Corporation.

However, seven union councils (rural areas) including Dewal, Phaqwari, Potha Sharif, Ghel, Ban, Angori and Sehr Bagla will be incorporated in Rawalpindi District Council.

According to Punjab Local Government Act 2013, each union council will consist of directly elected chairman and vice chairman, as joint candidates, five other directly elected members on the basis of adult franchise.

One woman member, a peasant member and one non-Muslim member and one youth councillor will be elected on reserved seats.

Each union council shall be the constituency for the election of the chairman and the vice-chairman while each union council shall be divided into five wards for direct election of five members of the union council.

Chairmen of union councils would be the members of municipal corporation Murree and will elect two general, two lady, two labour councilors, one youth councilor, one technocrat councilor and one minority councilor for the corporation.

These chairmen along with newly elected municipal corporation councilors will elect mayor and deputy mayor of the municipal corporation.

In Murree, many new faces along with old players are expected to be in the run for the election.

This time the condition of matriculation education for the chairman and councilors has been done away with so many old players would be in the field.

Being stronghold of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), the post of Mayor in Murree would be important.

There are many stalwarts including Raja Daftar Abbasi, former chairman, Murree Municipal Committee, a close and trustworthy associate of Sharif’s family, and Atiq Sarwar, younger brother of provincial Minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar Hafiz Usman Abbasi a close associate of Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, would be the prospective candidate of the PML-N for Murree’s mayorship. —Correspondent