LAHORE: To pave way for the next local bodies elections in Punjab, the provincial government has, in the first phase, constituted a 20-member committee to deliberate upon the Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA), 2022, and propose amendments to the existing law or present a draft of the new local government Act.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had formed the government in Punjab in 2018 with a slogan to devolve powers to the grassroots level through holding local government elections, but it failed to keep the promise.

The committee constituted by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz will be convened by Punjab local government and community development department (LG&CD) minister Zeeshan Rafique and schools education minister Rana Sikandar Hayat. It has been directed to complete the assigned task within 15 days and present its recommendations to the chief minister.

The committee members include 14 MPAs, other than the two ministers. The MPAs are, Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain Chhachhar, Salman Naeem, Muhammad Ahmad Khan Leghari, Ghazali Saleem Butt, Ziaullah Shah, Amjad Ali Javed, Sardar Muhammad Asim Sher Maken, Ahmed Iqbal, Ghazanfar Abbas Cheena, Raees Nabeel, Raja Muhammad Aslam Khan, Ghulam Murtaza, Kanwal Pervaiz Chaudhry and Salma Butt.

Punjab LG&CD department Secretary Mian Shakeel Ahmad will act as a member and secretary to the committee. He will also ensure administrative and secretariat support to the committee.

The law and parliamentary affairs department Secretary Asif Bilal Lodhi, as well as two lawyers – Moazzam Ali Shah and Usama Khawar Ghumman – have also been nominated as the committee members.

The committee has been constituted on a summary moved by the LG&CD department to look into the existing local government laws, update these for legislation and go for holding of much-awaited elections (of local bodies) in the province.

The local government elections are due in the province for the past several years.

The PTI government had dissolved the local governments created under the PLGA 2013 on May 4, 2019 as the law was repealed upon the promulgation of the PLGA 2019. Though the PTI government had recreated the local governments and appointed administrators on May 4, 2019 – some 30 months ahead of the completion of the LG representatives’ tenures, the Supreme Court had declared the PLGA 2019’s Section 3 ultra vires to the Constitution. Later, the PTI’s provincial government had restored the local governments under the PLGA 2013.

By February 2022, the PTI government had claimed to have finalised the PLGA 2021 draft and tabled it in the Punjab Assembly, allowing the opposition (PML-N) to express its reservations as a part of democratic process.

Under the PLGA draft law prepared in 2022, the PTI government had plans to legislate and hold direct elections to elect mayors in 11 metropolitan corporations (of major cities) and chairmen in districts.

The PTI government also wanted to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the local government elections to eliminate rigging. However, the introduction of EVMs in elections remains a distant dream as the Feb 8 general elections and April 21 by-elections in Punjab were held through manual voting practices. The PTI leaders and workers alleged massive rigging in these elections.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024