Sir: The Law Minister of Punjab Rana Sanaullah has said that the local bodies’ election is not a priority for the Punjab government. The present local government system, which was put in place by General Musharraf in 2001, completed two four-year terms in 2009; after that the provincial governments have failed to hold fresh elections on one pretext or another, which has inflicted colossal damage on the process of good governance and democracy. Local governments empower people to have responsibility for solving the problems of their locality and are a nursery school for future political leaders, but our present lot of politicians not being democratic themselves, do not want to allow others to challenge their political status. They do not promote democracy within their political parties; this very attitude has been the cause of the failure of democracy to solve problems. The essence of democracy is based on applying collective wisdom for the benefit of people while making projects and policies. The Chief Minister of Punjab has many government ministerial portfolios for himself on the pretext that he does not want to waste the public kitty on ministers’ salaries, privileges and benefits, while he himself is spending millions on his family’s security. He has even started schemes that have nothing to do with the welfare of the common Pakistani. Local government elections are the need of the hour and should be held in each and every part of Pakistan without delay. S T HUSSAIN Via e-mail