ISLAMABAD: The local bodies (LB) elections will cost Rs18 billion to the national exchequer, the secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said Saturday.
Briefing a meeting on the upcoming LB polls, he said the number of local constituencies in Punjab is 25,000 and in 4,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
200 million ballot papers will be printed for Punjab and 100 million for KP. The number is four times greater than the general election, he revealed.
The secretary said it would take the commission three months to procure election materials under the Papers Rules.
He recalled in the first phase, the polls in KP will be held on April 8 and in the second phase on May 29. In Punjab, he said, elections will be held on June 20, July 16, and August 8.
On the occasion, KP Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights Sultan Mohammad Khan said the provincial cabinet had proposed local body elections on September 15, however, given the rising number of coronavirus cases in the province, it is not appropriate to hold the poll on the said date.
The provincial government wants to amend the local body law. But the ECP secretary said no such amendment that could affect the election programme of the commission should be made in the Local Government Act.
Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said the provincial government is ready to hold LG polls in September. However, he said, the Punjab government wants to change the LB rules as well.
Punjab Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik said LB elections should not be held before August to complete administrative matters.
The military land director-general suggested the elections in cantonment boards be held in a single phase.
The secretary said the results of the census have not been announced yet, to which Sindh government’s Spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said local body elections could not be held on the basis of the 1998 census.
