{"id":107437,"date":"2026-04-19T16:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/lhc-seeks-clarity-from-ecp-on-party-based-lg-elections-pakistan-observer\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T16:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:57:18","slug":"lhc-seeks-clarity-from-ecp-on-party-based-lg-elections-pakistan-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/lhc-seeks-clarity-from-ecp-on-party-based-lg-elections-pakistan-observer\/","title":{"rendered":"LHC seeks clarity from ECP on party-based LG elections – Pakistan Observer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to clearly define its position regarding the structure and status of upcoming local government elections in Punjab, particularly whether they will be conducted on a party basis.<\/p>\n

The directive came during a hearing presided over by Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad on petitions filed by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and others challenging aspects of the local government framework. During the proceedings, JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman appeared before the court, while PTI was represented by Advocate Azhar Siddique. A law officer representing the Punjab government assured the bench that no political party would be discriminated against in the elections. However, the court raised concerns about the proposed electoral mechanism, especially regarding whether key positions such as chairman and vice chairman would be elected through direct voting or an indirect system. The government\u2019s counsel argued that indirect elections were not unusual, citing examples like the Senate chairman and assembly speaker, who are elected by representatives rather than through direct public vote. Justice Ahmad questioned whether previous local government laws also allowed indirect elections for these posts and instructed petitioners to submit a comparative analysis of past and current legislation.<\/p>\n

The court also sought clarification on whether local government elections in Sindh were held through direct voting. Responding to this, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman informed the court that Sindh\u2019s local government elections were conducted through direct voting, adding that this approach is widely practiced internationally. He criticized the proposed system in Punjab, warning that moving away from direct elections\u2014even at the union council level\u2014could undermine democratic principles.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to clearly define its position regarding the structure and status of upcoming local government elections in Punjab, particularly whether they will be conducted on a party basis. The directive came during a hearing presided over by Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad on petitions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/pakobserver.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LHC.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lahore-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t