Heads up: LG polls plan to be announced in three days, says minister

PESHAWAR:

Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan on Tuesday said the provincial government will announce its plans for holding local government (LG) polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the next three days.

Addressing a meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami’s working group on local government, Khan said the government will announce the plan for holding the polls phase-wise under the biometric system. “Meetings in this regard will be held among the K-P government, Election Commission of Pakistan and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in the next three days for finalising the decisions,” he told participants, adding they were keen on holding the polls under the biometric system.

“There are chances the biometric system will be used phase-wise because the machines will be transported to other districts where the elections will be held at a later stage.” Khan also shared delimitation had almost been completed across the province.

The working group’s chairman, Dr Muhammad Iqbal Khalil, said his party is fully prepared for participating in the LG elections and will prefer an alliance with the coalition partners for the polls.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2014.

Correction: An earlier version of the article incorrectly noted in its headline that by-elections will be announced, instead of local body polls. The error is regretted.