LAHORE: The Punjab government on Wednesday contradicted the stance of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by saying that it had intimated to the ECP about the amendments in the Local Government Act 2019.

In this connection, a meeting of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Committee on Local Government Act 2019 was held here on Wednesday that was chaired by Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan.

Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, Punjab Housing Minister Mian Mahmood Al-Rasheed and Punjab Prosecution Minister Chaudhry Zaheeruddin were also present at the meeting.

Briefing the Committee about the recent Supreme Court hearing, Punjab Local Government Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal said the ECP had stated in the Supreme Court that the Punjab government had not informed it about amending the Local Government Act 2019.

However, the Committee unanimously said the statement of the Election Commission was contrary to the facts. In the meeting, it was pointed out that the Punjab Law Minister, Punjab Chief Secretary and Punjab Local Government Secretary appeared before the Election Commission twice on behalf of the Punjab government and informed them about amendments.

“This was acknowledged by the Election Commission in its meeting minutes, in which the Commission admitted that it was stated by the representatives of the Punjab government that the government intended to introduce amendments in the said Act.

The minutes issued by the Election Commission automatically refuted its statement in the SC,” the Committee further said.

The meeting showed concern over the ECP’s contradictory statement in the SC, as they believe it has weakened the position of the Punjab government.

“Had the facts were placed before the court, it would not have passed the remarks about Punjab,” the members of the Committee added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021