PPP opposes holding of LG polls in phases

LAHORE
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President PPP Punjab, has demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold Local Governments’ election on the same day on October 12 this year as there is no precedent of holding phased Local Governments’ elections in Punjab.
He welcomed the reported schedule of the Election Commission of Pakistan for holding of Local Governments’ elections because without this the process of democratisation of the society would remain inconclusive. Local Governments are the basic but very important component of the democratic dispensation, he added.
He said the elections of local bodies were held in the past on the same day despite the existence of almost similar situation as today in the province adding holding of phased elections were never considered as a viable option. He pointed out that the holding of phased elections in the Punjab would probably generate undesirable controversy that would not augur well for the smooth functioning of the Local Governments’ system in the province.
He added that Local Governments’ elections were going to be held after much reluctance of the Punjab government. It should be the endeavour of all of us not to make Local Government system controversial. He maintained the government at the doorstep was considered as the best government and the Local Governments perfectly exemplified the narrative because it was supposed to deal with the local problems of the local people which had direct bearings on their day-to-day life.
He regretted that the Punjab government stalled the holding of Local Governments’ elections for many years by bringing in an amendment in the law as its leadership had increased appetite for concentration of power and devolution did not exist in their lexicon.
The fake leaders were well established because the government transferred the development funds to their whimsical projects which had least correlation with the wellbeing of the overwhelming populace of the province, he recalled. He observed that this mindset of mandarins led to rural-urban development imbalance and flawed priorities of the Punjab government.