Punjab to hold LG polls under new law

Mayors will be picked through direct vote under Punjab LG Act 2022

RAWALPINDI:

The Government of Punjab has decided to hold the local body elections in the province under the new local government act. According to the Punjab Local Government Act 2022, the election for mayor of the metropolitan corporations and District Council in all divisional headquarters including Rawalpindi will take place by direct voting.

Sources said, 52 per cent of the seats will be allocated at the discretion of the elected mayor, and 48 by proportional representation, depending on the number of votes each party receives. Based on the political party's popularity with the general public, the head of the local body will be directly elected during the local body elections.

According to political circles, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf might be the biggest beneficiary if the elections were held in the current situation.

The sources said that the Metropolitan Corporation in Gujarat will function as the umbrella organisation for ten divisional headquarters and one non-divisional headquarters in addition to district councils. However, Municipal Committees and Municipal Corporations have been abolished. There will be a unit at each tehsil level in addition to the District Council. The local politics will be party based. However, the Mayor of the Metropolitan Corporation and Mayor of the District Council will not only be more empowered than in the past but no-confidence motions will also not be tabled against them. The party will nullify any member who deviates from its decision.

The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation will have 70 Union Councils. The assembly and several political figures have voiced opposition to the new local government law, believing that the mayor should be chosen indirectly rather than directly.

For the first time, a law has been prepared to hold the mayor's direct election; however, this suggestion was not included in the law.

It should be remembered that Punjab's most recent municipal elections were held on a party basis under a Supreme Court ruling. However, the PTI administration, which was established as a consequence of the election in 2018, rendered the local bodies financially and administratively ineffectual in the first phase due to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s majority in the local bodies.

These local organisations were prematurely disbanded during the second phase, and administrators were appointed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2022.