MULTAN
As the process to complete local governments has resumed in Punjab, 70 new members will join District Council, Municipal Corporation and Municipal Committees of Multan against the reserved seats on February 14, The Nation has learnt.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared the schedule for the election to reserved seats. The women will get 36 out of total 70 reserved seats in local bodies of Multan while 9 members would be elected on technocrat seats, 11 worker/peasant, 4 youth and 10 non-Muslim.
The process for the indirect election of members against reserved seats has already begun with the issuance of public notice by the returning officers on January 18 and it will end on February 14, the poll date for indirect seats of union councils.
The last date for filing nomination papers is January 21 (today) while the polling for reserved seats in District Councils, Municipal Corporations and Metropolitan Corporations will take place on February 8. Similarly, the election to choose members against reserved seats in Municipal Committees will be held on February 11.
The ECP sources said that the newly elected chairmen from the union councils located in the limits of District Council and Municipal Corporation will act as electoral college for the candidates running for reserved seats in their respective houses. Similarly, the councillors elected from a union council will vote for the candidates vying for reserved seats in that particular union council while the members of a municipal committee will have the right to vote for or against any candidate contesting election against reserved seat in that committee.
A notification issued by the Secretary Local Government Punjab Khalid Masood Chaudhry disclosed that the highest number of reserved seats has been allocated for District Council Multan where 33 new members will get entry through reserved seats. They include 15 women, six technocrat, six worker/peasant, five non-muslim and one youth seats. Similarly, 25 indirectly elected members including 15 women, three technocrats, three workers/peasants, three non-Muslims and one youth will join Municipal Corporation Multan on reserved seats.
Both the MUNICIPAL COMMITTEES of Shujabad and Jalalpur Pirwala will have six new members each on reserved seats. Each of these committees will have three women, one worker/peasant, one youth and one non-Muslim members on reserved seats.
Earlier, the Local Government Department Punjab had also announced eligibility and conditions for candidature against reserved seats. The aspirant willing to contest indirect election against technocrat seat needs a masters or a professional degree along with five year experience in the relevant field.
Similarly, the eligibility cap for farmers running on worker/peasant seat is five acre land and anyone holding more than five acre land will automatically disqualify for this category. The peasants can also contest the election but the land he is working on should not be registered in his name in the revenue record. Any labourer seeking election against this seat will need a card issued by either the Labour Department or the factory he works at.
The age of the candidate vying for youth seat should be between 21 and 25 years while the candidates against women seats will have to produce their original National Identity Card. Similarly, the minority candidates need to prove their minority status.