Daily Times

Lahore High Court received a petition on Thursday against the likely dissolution of the incumbent local government institutions. Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal’s son moved the petition challenging Punjab Local Government Bill, 2019. The petition stated that the existing local government institutions would be done away with and any representatives of local bodies would lose their positions under the new bill. It further argued that the local bodies could not be dissolved before the completion of their tenure. The high court was urged to direct the provincial government to allow the incumbent local bodies to complete their term and annul the new local government in Punjab. Earlier on Tuesday, Punjab Assembly had passed two bills to replace the existing local bodies with a new local government system amid protest by opposition parties, particularly the PML-N. Punjab Local Government Bill, 2019 and Punjab Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Bill, 2019 would come into effect with the approval of Punjab Governor.