Opposition: PTI demands local govt elections

He says there has been no local government elections in the province in the last six years despite court orders.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhary on Wednesday urged the government to announce the schedule for local government elections.

He said there had been no local government elections in the province in the last six years despite several court orders. He said the election commission could engage any institution to hold local bodies elections, according to Article 220 of the Constitution.

He stressed that PTI would not allow the government to evade this constitutional issue. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had been in power since 1985 but had failed to improve the life of ordinary people. The PML-N political elite had looted the national exchequer and the poor were committing suicides because of hunger, he claimed.

Chaudhary condemned alleged rigging of by-pools in Jhang. “The PML-N cannot hijack democracy with these tactics,” he said.

He said a presiding officer caught red handed but police had not take any action.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2014.