ISLAMABAD – Local body polls are likely to be held in Balochistan and recently-merged districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa before the upcoming holy month of Ramazan in May, sources said on Sunday.
Sources in Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that the term of local body governments in Balochistan had expired on January 27, and the ECP had started process of delimitations in the province which will be completed in March.
Likewise, the ECP has already geared up the process of debilitations of constituencies in the merged districts of KP. However, according to some independent sources, the ECP is likely to hold the local body polls in April. The ECP spokesperson was not immediately available to confirm.
Sources further informed that term of local body governments in KP was also expiring soon and the ECP will also hold fresh elections in the province this year. Term of local body governments in Punjab and Sindh provinces are scheduled to expire later this year.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government wanted to introduce such a local bodies’ system which could resolve problems of masses at the grass-root level.
Chairing a meeting regarding enforcement of local bodies system in Punjab and KP and in Islamabad, the PM said that in the new local bodies’ system, the funds would be spent at local level which would end wastage of money and corruption. He said that laws would be enacted in the new system so that the people could do accountability of the development schemes. Sharing details about the proposed reforms, sources in the PTI confirmed that negotiations on the subject matter were underway in Punjab and KP provinces to finalise the package.