Overview
- The Punjab Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution and forwarded it to the National Assembly and Senate secretaries, urging constitutional protection for local governments through an Article 140-A amendment or a new chapter titled Local Governments.
- The proposal sets enforceable timelines requiring elections within 90 days of term expiry and the first session of new councils within 21 days.
- It seeks to prohibit any political party or incoming government from shortening local bodies’ tenure and calls for full administrative, financial, and political autonomy, including a 27th Amendment if needed.
- Cross-party backing included sponsors from PML-N and PPP, and the speaker highlighted support from an 80-member Local Government Caucus with 35 opposition members.
- Punjab’s Local Government Act 2025 is already in effect, restructuring local bodies by abolishing District Councils and defining Union Councils of 13 members representing about 22,000 to 27,000 people.