The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday deferred the local bodies (LB) polls schedule for Punjab.
According to media reports, the ECP was to issue a schedule for Punjab and Sindh on November 29, but no formalities, including issuance of notification on delimitation were met by the Punjab government.
Election schedule will be issued on completion of delimitation of constituencies process in Punjab and no LB polls schedule will now be issued on November 29 for this province.
ECP sources said Sindh has held out assurance in connection with completion of all preparations until the evening and schedule in respect of Sindh will be issued to day if preparations are completed in the province.
Separately, Punjab PTI President Ejaz Chaudhry, PTI General Secretary Dr Yasmin Rashid and PTI Secretary Information Punjab held a meeting. Chaudhry said that the Punjab government was deliberately trying to delay the LB elections because they were afraid to hold them on party basis. He criticised the government performance by saying that every two weeks the prices of electricity and petrol were increasing and creating historical inflation.
He said that the delimitation process has been delayed because the government was trying to force every vote according to their own territorial preference. He demanded that the govt immediately hand over the delimitation process to the ECP as per the constitutional requirements. He also mentioned that if the government would not hold LB elections in Punjab on January 30, 2014 the PTI would protest in and outside parliament.
Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the government’s Local Body Act was a deliberate attempt to prevent women and grassroots development from taking place as most of the clauses of electing major office-bearers rested the power to the provincial chief. She said that the fear of the government at losing this power has made them prevent the LB elections from taking place since the last six years.
Andleeb said that it was shameful to see that family politics continued in the PML-N. She said that after handing over the whole process to Hamza Sharif, Nawaz Sharif has handed over the youth development programme to Maryam Nawaz.
Noor Khan, Safdar Jamil, Liaqat Ali, Falak Sher Ranjha, Younas Shahid, Naveed Aslam and Chaudhry Ilyas were also present.
