GUJRAT: Jamaat-e-Islami has termed the Punjab Local Government Act a “black law”, alleging that the provincial government has introduced a flawed and undemocratic system aimed at manipulating local body elections and securing results of its own choice.
Speaking at a Meet the Press programme at the Jalalpur Jattan Press Club on Sunday, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders said the current local government framework had already been rejected by the public and lacked moral and political legitimacy. They alleged that the non-party based local government elections under this system would open the door to widespread horse trading after polls, turning cities and neighbourhoods into political marketplaces.
Jamaat-e-Islami leaders said the Punjab government, fearing electoral defeat, wanted to avoid party-based local body elections and instead impose a system that allowed post-election engineering. They claimed that the new law weakened democratic norms and deprived citizens of genuine grassroots representation.
The party said it had conducted a countrywide referendum against the Punjab Local Government Act, in which the public overwhelmingly rejected the legislation. Jamaat-e-Islami demanded that the government immediately withdraw the act and announce local government elections on a party basis so that elected representatives could effectively address civic and municipal issues.
The speakers also raised concerns over the delay in making Jalalpur Jattan tehsil functional, calling it an act of injustice towards residents. They warned that continued administrative inaction would leave the party with no option but to launch a protest movement.
In his remarks, Jamaat-e-Islami District Gujrat General Secretary Professor Umar Siddiq said that the local government system was the foundation of democracy, but ruling elites in Pakistan had consistently resisted the devolution of power. He said personality-driven politics had weakened institutions and denied workers the right to question leadership.
Jamaat-e-Islami Jalalpur Jattan City President Dr Mudabbir Siddiq said the Punjab government’s local government act had no public mandate and elections held under it would carry no credibility. He warned that the elite class was attempting to perpetuate control through selective representation, a trend he said was eroding democratic values across the country.
