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LAHORE, Dec 22 (APP): The Lahore High Court (LHC) was informed on Monday that local government elections under the Punjab Local Government Act 2025 would be held on a party basis and that party tickets could also be issued.
When the court asked whether this meant the elections would not be non-partisan, petitioners’ lawyers representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami, and others responded that if the government maintains this position, their case would effectively be closed.
The hearing on petitions challenging the Local Government Act 2025 was presided over by Justice Sultan Tanveer.
Azhar Siddiq and Abu Zar Salman Niazi appeared on behalf of the petitioners, while DG Local Commission Khurram Shehzad represented the Election Commission.
During the proceedings, the Local Government Department submitted its report to the court. DG Khurram Shehzad said the Election Commission is a constitutional body and is bound to conduct elections under any act passed by the government. He added that over the past four years, the government had been repeatedly urged to conduct local elections, and the Punjab government has now set January 10 as the deadline for election arrangements.
The court expressed concern over the Advocate General Punjab’s failure to submit a reply and remarked that the case could not proceed without it. It directed the Advocate General to submit the response by tomorrow and adjourned the hearing until then.