Islamabad
Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Media Advisor Sajjad Ahmed Abbasi has strongly condemned the postponement of local government elections in Islamabad for the fourth time, terming it a blatant violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution.
Sajjad Ahmed Abbasi said that instead of transferring power to elected representatives, the federal government has opted to hand over control to the bureaucracy by converting the metropolitan city into town corporations, which undermines the constitutional mandate of empowered local governments.
He remarked that political parties raising slogans of “respect for the vote” are, in reality, afraid of devolving power to the people and are deliberately avoiding the local government system.
Sajjad Ahmed Abbasi said that collecting crores of rupees from the public in the name of elections and then repeatedly postponing the polls amounts to robbing citizens through state institutions. He added that the new local government ordinance introduced by the federal government has violated the basic democratic rights of the people of Islamabad and trampled the spirit of democracy. He further stated that, in an attempt to evade elections, the Local Government Act has been amended four times to date. According to him, the ruling PML-N, sensing defeat, postponed the local government elections for the fourth time through an ordinance.
Sajjad Ahmed Abbasi described the abolition of the Metropolitan Corporation and the establishment of town corporations in major cities, including Islamabad and Lahore, as a conspiracy to place public resources under the control of a corrupt bureaucracy.
He emphasized that the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation had served as a key institution responsible for city-wide planning, major development projects, equitable distribution of resources, and the implementation of uniform local government laws. He alleged that the government formed based on Form 47 is fearful of empowering the people.
Abbasi said the failure of federal and provincial governments to establish strong and empowered local governments at the grassroots level reflects an undemocratic and anti-people policy.
He concluded by stating that Jamaat-e-Islami will continue its struggle to protect the constitutional and democratic rights of the people and will resist all unconstitutional and anti-people measures aimed at weakening Metropolitan Corporations across Punjab, including Islamabad.
