ECP reschedules Punjab LG elections to May 29

Spokesperson says residents of 17 districts will exercise their right to vote in the first phase of polls

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday rescheduled the local government elections in Punjab with the first phase of the polls now set to take place on May 29.

The provincial government had earlier announced holding the first phase of the local bodies elections on May 15.

Today's announcement was made following a meeting of the election body, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Detailing the new schedule further, the ECP spokesperson in a statement said the elections will be held in Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Khanewal, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Pakpattan, Toba Tek Singh, Sahiwal, Khushab, Sialkot, Gujarat, Hafiz Abad, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum, and Attock areas in the first phase.

Earlier this month, ECP had also revised schedule for the second phase of local bodies elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with the polls now set to be held on March 31.

Also read: Politicking gathers pace ahead of LG polls

The schedule was announced after the Supreme Court suspended Peshawar High Court’s decision in which the latter had postponed the second phase of the polls.

In December last year, Pakistan Tehreek-s-Insaf faced startling setbacks in the first phase of K-P's local government elections with the candidates of the opposition parties managing to defeat its nominees.

A day after his party lost several seats in the province and created a situation where it needed to do some soul searching, the premier in a tweet had admitted that the PTI made ‘mistakes’ in the LG polls and pinned the blame on "wrong candidate selection”.

Smarting from the electoral rebuke in the ruling party’s stronghold, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Punjab government to immediately complete its homework regarding the polls, saying he himself would supervise the strategy.