Stakeholders have stressed the need for immediate local government elections and transferring powers to public representatives at the grassroots levels.
“Need and Importance of Immediate Elections to Local Government Institutions in Punjab” moot brought together a broad range of stakeholders, including legal experts, politicians, parliamentarians, government officials, civil society representatives, academics, media professionals, and members of urban and rural communities.
Prominent participants included Minister for Local Government and Community Development Zeeshan Rafique, Minister for Minorities and Human Rights Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, and Punjab Land Record Authority Chairman Chaudhary Tariq Subhani.
After extensive discussions, participants urged authorities to accelerate the electoral process so elected local governments could begin functioning within the next year.
Participants further emphasised the need for inclusive representation of marginalised groups, including minorities, farmers, labourers, youth, persons with disabilities, and transgender individuals. The forum rejected the “show of hands” voting method and demanded that all local government elections be conducted through a secret ballot to ensure transparency and credibility.
Prof Dr Amjad Magsi highlighted the importance of a strong local government system in resolving day-to-day public issues and ensuring effective service delivery at the grassroots level.
Arshad Mahmood Mirza called for meaningful devolution of administrative, financial, and legal powers to local bodies in line with the 18th Amendment, adding that such reforms would strengthen district, tehsil, and union council institutions.
Mirza also expressed concern over overlapping administrative structures in major cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Gujranwala, and Sargodha. He warned that the coexistence of Town Corporations alongside district-level authorities could create coordination problems and reduce administrative efficiency.
Salman Abid proposed restoring Metropolitan Corporations in major cities, with Town Corporations operating under their administrative structure to improve coordination and governance.
Zahid Islam suggested several reforms aimed at improving the effectiveness of local governments. He proposed creating Union Councils based on populations of 25,000 to 30,000 people and replacing the existing multi-member ward structure with nine single-member wards in each Union Council. In addition, he supported allowing political parties to contest local government elections on party-based panels and symbols.
Bushra Khaliq expressed concern over what she described as inadequate representation of women in the proposed system. She argued that allocating only one reserved seat for women in Union Councils would not ensure meaningful participation.
Hina Noureen echoed these concerns and proposed increasing women’s representation to at least three seats per Union Council, while raising the overall share of women in local bodies from 14 per cent to between 25 and 33 per cent.
Muhammad Tahseen urged authorities to empower local bodies to generate and utilise their own resources and recommended allocating at least 25 per cent of the Punjab Consolidated Fund to local governments through the Provincial Finance Commission Award.
Irfan Mufti highlighted the importance of transparent accountability mechanisms and better public access to information. He stressed the need to strengthen citizen participation in decision-making, especially at the village level, to deepen democratic engagement.
Immediate local government elections urged amid governance concerns
