LAHORE: As the Election Commission of Pakistan announced holding the local government elections in December under the Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2022, the treasury on Monday bulldozed the Punjab Local Government Bill 2025 through the Punjab Assembly.

The ECP had last week rejected all excuses of the Punjab government in finalising and enacting the new PLGA and announced holding elections in the last week of December and began the process of delimitation from Thursday last.

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The treasury steamrolled the bill through the Punjab Assembly amidst strong protests and disruptions, as opposition members led by opposition leader Moeen Qureshi demanding the proceedings be suspended as law and order had worsened in Punjab in view of the protests by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

As the treasury was bent upon pushing the ‘controversial’ bill through hastily, opposition leader Moeen Qureshi rejected the bill and submitted some 37 amendments.

The move apparently aims at offsetting the ECP’s recent announcement to hold local polls in Punjab

The opposition has raised strong objections to the clauses that even violate the Constitution’s Article 140 that reads: “Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments.”

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Since the provincial government is bound to transfer political, administrative and financial powers to the local governments, the treasury has held in abeyance the local bodies’ powers for indefinite period that relate to union councils’ functions and powers including dispute resolution, conflict of interest and referral of dispute by court until it would formally notify these powers.

“The PLGA says the law shall come into force at once except clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 27, sections 28, 29 and 30 which shall come into force on such date as the government may, by a notification in the official Gazette, appoint.

Mr Qureshi told the media persons that the provincial government had decided in the PLGA that the first phase of the LG elections would be held on non-party basis adding that all the elected members would be pressured to join the provincial ruling party through its executive machinery comprising deputy commissioners, district police officers and even SHOs.

He said the treasury also wiped out the district tier from the local governments and created tehsils, towns, municipal corporations, town corporations etc.

Speaking to Dawn, PTI MPA Ahmer Rasheed Bhatti said the opposition had also given amendment against Clause 14, sub section 4, wherein the treasury had referred to the composition of local government particularly the Speaker.

“The law passed by the assembly says the deputy mayors or vice-chairpersons shall act as Speaker of the town corporation, municipal corporation and tehsil council, on rotation basis, for a period of four months.”

Mr Bhatti said the law had staged ‘musical chairs’ for the position of speaker and added that no speaker would be able to work diligently and added that the next in line speaker may overturn the orders of the preceding speaker.

Similarly, Mr Bhatti said the law also explained that district authorities’ chairpersons and tehsils heads would be rotated on a four-month term basis.

Explaining the anomalies, the MPA said the elected heads of district authorities and tehsils would be playing musical chairs on four-month rotation, while the respective deputy commissioners would be permanent bodies of the local bodies – meaning – they would be exercising real powers. He also pointed out that the executive members’ number was higher than the elected members meaning thereby the executive would be able to bulldoze any decision in the local bodies.

With regard to voting by the voters, Mr Bhatti said the voters had been allowed to poll one vote for his candidate instead of polling nine votes for the election of nine candidates. Terming it a violation of constitutional right of voters, he said each voter would have a claim of electing one member and the remaining eight members would not be his representatives.

In Clause 24, Mr Bhatti said the Punjab government had retained powers to interfere in the local bodies functions. The Clause 24 “Assignment of additional responsibilities by the Government” reads: “Nothing in the Act shall prevent the Government from assigning any function to a local government which is not included in its power and functions”.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025