Punjab CM rejects Election Commission’s notification

Vows to take legal recourse about delimitation of UCs

LAHORE:

The participants of a meeting presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Saturday rejected a notification of the Election Commission about delimitation of union councils.

They claimed that the ‘one-sided’ notification about delimitation of the UC did not fulfill the legal requirements.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Muhammad Sabtain Khan, Senior Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Ministers Basharat Raja and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and MNA Brigadier(retd) Ijaz Shah attended the meeting in which the notification was comprehensively reviewed.

The participants remarked that the Punjab government would not accept the notification of the Election Commission.

CM Pervazi Elahi alleged that the notification was an attempt to bulldoze public opinion, adding that the local people and administration had not been included in the process, nor any consultations had been made in this regard.

He said a legal and constitutional course would be adopted about the matter and the Punjab government would play its role in accordance with the constitution and law.

He underscored that the local government institutions are the nurseries of democracy and the problems of the masses could be solved at their doorsteps only through a strong democratic government.

He expressed apprehension that if the delimitations took effect according to the notification of the Election Commission, strong local governments could not be formed.

The chief minister alleged that the move appeared to be an attempt to benefit a political party, adding, “We hold strong reservations regarding this one-sided notification of the Election Commission”.

The legal and constitutional aspects with regard to the notification were also reviewed during the consultative meeting.