LAHORE: The Punjab government plans to amend the Local Government Act 2013 to allow the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delimit local areas if the federal government does the same.

According to official sources, the federal government might promulgate an ordinance to amend the Delimitation of Constituencies Act 1974 to allow the ECP to delimit local areas under a Supreme Court direction.

As a consequence, the Punjab government would also do the same by amending the Local Government Act 2013. At present the Delimitation of Constituencies Act 1974 allows the ECP to only delimit PA and NA constituencies.

And the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 empowers the provincial government to conduct the delimitation of local areas.

The court ruling had come after the provision in the Local Government Act 2013 was challenged.

There is no local government in Punjab since 2009 as the provincial government did not hold fresh local body elections due the same year under the devolution based Local Government Ordinance 2001 given by Gen Musharraf.

The PML-N government did not opt for local elections under the Local Govt Ordinance 2001 which it abhorred but continued to directly control districts through DCOs appointed under the same law.

The same arrangements are in place under the same law despite the PML-N government had passed the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 of its choice.

Sources said the new law would become effective only after fresh local elections under it. But in that case there would be a new district management system, having no direct link with the weak district councils.