To pave the way for the next Local Government elections in the province, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has constituted a 20-member committee to deliberate upon the Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA), 2022, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Saturday.

According to the Terms of Reference of the committee, after a thorough study of PLGA 2022, it will propose suggestions on whether the Punjab government should bring amendments to the existing law or it may present a new draft of the Local Government Act.

It is pertinent to mention that the PTI-led government in Punjab under then CM Usman Buzdar, had started work on the draft of the Punjab Local Government Act in 2018 with a slogan to devolve the powers to the grassroots level by holding local government elections but unfortunately, the PTI govt got delayed and finalized Local Government Act in 2022 but failed to hold the election.

The committee meeting will be convened by Punjab Minister for Local Govt and Community Development Department Zeeshan Rafique and Schools Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat.

The committee has been directed to complete the assigned task within 15 days and present its recommendations to the chief minister.

The committee members include 14 MPAs, other than the two ministers. The MPAs are, Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain Chhachhar, Salman Naeem, Muhammad Ahmad Khan Leghari, Ghazali Saleem Butt, Ziaullah Shah, Amjad Ali Javed, Sardar Muhammad Asim Sher Maken, Ahmed Iqbal, Ghazanfar Abbas Cheena, Raees Nabeel, Raja Muhammad Aslam Khan, Ghulam Murtaza, Kanwal Pervaiz Chaudhry and Salma Butt.

While Punjab LG&CD department Secretary Mian Shakeel Ahmad will act as a member and secretary to the committee. He will also ensure administrative and secretariat support to the committee.

The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department Secretary Asif Bilal Lodhi and two lawyers namely Moazzam Ali Shah and Usama Khawar Ghumman have also been nominated as the committee members.

The committee has been constituted on a summary moved by the LG&CD department which demanded the holding of much-awaited elections of local bodies in the province. The local government elections have been due in the province for the past several years.

The PTI government dissolved the local governments created under the PLGA 2013 on May 4, 2019, as the law was repealed upon the promulgation of the PLGA 2019.

Though the PTI government had recreated the local governments and appointed administrators on May 4, 2019 – some 30 months ahead of the completion of the LG representatives’ tenures, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had declared the PLGA 2019’s Section 3 ultra vires to the Constitution. Later, the PTI’s provincial government restored the local governments under the PLGA 2013.

By February 2022, the PTI government had claimed to have finalised the PLGA 2021 draft and tabled it in the Punjab Assembly, allowing the opposition (PML-N) to express its reservations as a part of the democratic process.

Under the PLGA draft law prepared in 2022, the PTI government had plans to legislate and hold direct elections to elect mayors in 11 metropolitan corporations (of major cities) and chairmen in districts.