Move to pave way for holding local govt polls in AJK
• Election Commission decides to review LG laws in Punjab, KP and Sindh and suggest necessary changes to LG Act, 1990 • Committee formed to draft proposed tweaks to facilitate polls MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission has decided to propose necessary amendments to the existing Local Government Act, 1990, to pave the way for holding local government (LG) elections in…
Muzzafarabad - The Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has announced plans to review and amend the Local Government Act, 1990, in order to facilitate the upcoming local government elections set for 2026-27. This decision was reached during a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner, retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, on Tuesday.
The proposed amendments will be submitted to the government after the commission examines the electoral arrangements in neighboring Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces. A committee has been formed to draft the necessary changes, and the commission plans to estimate the funds required for the elections, which will then be submitted to the government.
The last local government elections in AJK took place in three phases in 2022, after a 31-year gap since the previous polls in 1991. Prior to 1991, elections had not been held since 1995, when successive governments managed local government institutions through administrators, often appointed officials or political workers. The 13th Amendment in 2018 transferred the responsibility of conducting LG elections from a separate election commission under government control to the AJK EC.
The 2022 LG elections marked the restoration of elected local bodies after decades of administration through nominally appointed officials.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
