Hope and gloom among capital’s residents

Citizens speak their mind on lingering concerns in the city.

ISLAMABAD:

Polling for the first ever local body elections in the urban areas of Islamabad will begin at 7:30 am on Monday (today) and go on till 5:30 pm without a break.

The capital’s residents are actively taking part in election preparations, looking forward to voting in hope for some tangible improvement at a grass root level.

Locals hope that the elected participants will help bring their issues to light, and find a workable solution to them. However some, especially ones from lower socio-economic classes and religious minorities, are not too hopeful.

With issues related to hygiene, power, gas and clean drinking water, residents of slum areas do not feel that the local bodies elections will help change their fate.

With an estimated population of 1.8 million and around 680,000 voters, Islamabad will vote for 50 union councils.



The powers currently entrusted with the bureaucracy in Islamabad will devolve to the two-tier local government system bringing it closer to citizens.

In the first phase of the elections, voters will directly elect 600 representatives — 12 from each union council — while the second phase will see the elected representatives form a 66-member Metropolitan Corporation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th,  2015.