Capital postpones delimitation of Ucs
The delimitation of Union Councils (UCs) and women general councillors' seats will begin next month in October due to new legislation regarding local government in the federal capital. The incomplete ongoing work on new delimitation in Punjab has also been halted.
The work on new local government delimitations in Punjab has been delayed. The new delimitations have been postponed until the approval of the new local government system.
The new delimitations of UCs in Punjab were to be completed by August 31, but a decision has been made to draft a new local government law, and the implementation of the new Local Government Act 2021, introduced during the PTI government, has been halted.
Currently, there is no effective local government law in place in Punjab. For the past three years, Punjab has been managing local government affairs without a proper system.
Around 90% of the work on new delimitations had been completed by 40 district election commissions and revenue department officers across the province, but ongoing delimitations have been stopped due to the decision to introduce a new local government act.
According to sources, the decision has been made to restore the Local Government Act 2013 from the era of Shehbaz Sharif in Punjab. By the end of October, changes will be made to the Local Government Act, and new local constituencies will be re-demarcated in Punjab.
Meanwhile, in Islamabad, new local constituencies are expected to be formed by the end of October, and preparations have already begun for this.
The official schedule regarding this will be issued by the end of this month. Due to this, the likelihood of holding local elections in Punjab and Islamabad this year has diminished.
The Chairman of the District Development and Coordination Committee, MNA Engineer Qamar-ul-Islam, says local governance is the soul of democracy and that (PML-N will soon introduce a new local government system, and once it's done, there will not be even a day's delay in holding local elections.