All set to dissolve local bodies
Authorities had claimed that foolproof security arrangements were made to ensure polling is conducted in a peaceful and transparent manner. SCREENGRAB
Preparations have been completed to dissolve all local bodies across Punjab including in Rawalpindi on the night of December 31.
The heads of the local bodies mayors and chairmen will be replaced by administrators. Deputy commissioners will be appointed as administrators of all municipal corporations across Punjab. While the deputy commissioners will be appointed as administrators of the Metropolitan Municipal Corporations, a notification will be issued on the night of January 1.
Similarly, assistant commissioners or senior officers of the ministry of the local government will be posted as administrators of all tehsils of Punjab. On the resignation of the chairmen and councillors of all the union councils across Punjab, the secretary union councils will assume immediate charge.
Meanwhile, the mayors and chairmen of the existing local bodies had filed petitions in the Lahore High Court seeking extension of their suspended period for two years, which was rejected by the court. After which the representatives of the local bodies, mayors and chairmen have started packing their belongings. The chairmen of all the municipal committees, including the mayor of Rawalpindi, have also reduced their visits to the office.
Last week, members of the local bodies also completed their last farewell meetings. While the chairmen of 150 union councils of the Rawalpindi district have convened their last meeting this week, these farewell meetings will be held from December 27 to December 31.
All local government representatives will step down on Friday. Administrators of local bodies across the province will take charge from January 1 and the new local body system will be implemented in January.
The new delimitation neighbourhood and village councils will begin in the first week of January next year. Under the new delimitation, special committees have been formed in all 36 districts. District election commissioners have been appointed as the heads of these special delimitation committees.
Additional deputy commissioner revenue and one representative of the ministry of the local government have also been included in these committees.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2021.