Local govt polls to be held in Sindh next year: PPP
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• Coalition partners trade barbs after PPP challenges PML-N to hold LG elections in Punjab, Islamabad
• Saad Rafique opposes holding local polls in Punjab ‘on Karachi pattern’
• Sharjeel says people of Punjab should be given their constitutional right
ISLAMABAD: The PPP said on Thursday that the next local government elections in Sindh would be held in 2027, amid a fresh war of words that has erupted between the party and its main ruling coalition partner — the PML-N — over the local government system in the country.
“By the grace of Allah Almighty, local government elections will be held for the third time in Sindh in 2027,” senior PPP leader Senator Waqar Mehdi said in a statement issued in response to a recent statement by PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique.
In a post on X, Rafique had criticised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s demand for local government elections in Punjab and the federal capital, saying such polls should not be held on the pattern followed in Sindh.
He said it was Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s rightful demand that LG polls be held soon in Punjab and Islamabad, but not on the pattern of Karachi elections.
“If anyone wants further details about it, they can ask (MQM leader) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and (Jamaat-i-Islami chief) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman,” he added.
Senator Mehdi said the PPP had already conducted local government polls in Sindh twice in the past.
“PPP has just asked for local government elections in Punjab and the Centre, but you started crying. Don’t be scared and conduct LG polls. Whoever is popular among the people will win,” he said, addressing Rafique.
He said the local government system was successfully delivering in Sindh. “If you have any better plan, come up with it,” he added.
On Wednesday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, had challenged the ruling PML-N to hold local government elections in Islamabad and Lahore within 90 days.
He criticised the PML-N over the delay in holding LG polls in Punjab and Islamabad and accused it of attempting to create differences between the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on the issue.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari said local governments were functioning in provinces under PPP rule, whereas the PML-N was afraid of having local governments in Punjab and Islamabad.
“They are not even ready to hold a single union council election. I say introduce the same kind of local government system in Lahore that we have in Karachi. Let’s contest the polls,” he said, adding: “I challenge you to hold local government elections in Islamabad within 90 days.”
Mr Bhutto-Zardari asked the PML-N to show the provinces what powers and financial resources it wanted to give to local government representatives so that the provinces could follow them as a role model.
Stating that the PPP had the credit of giving the 1973 Constitution to the country, he announced that his party would hold local government polls in Gilgit-Baltistan within 90 days.
Meanwhile, Sindh Senior Minister and Information, Transport and Mass Transit Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon also reacted to Rafique’s statement, saying the PML-N leader should first hold local government elections in Punjab and give the people of the province their constitutional rights before lecturing other provinces on democratic systems.
In a statement, Memon said that before raising questions about Karachi’s local government system, Rafique should explain to the people why local government elections had not been held in Punjab.
He said it was surprising that the PML-N, which was reluctant to conduct local government elections in Punjab, was criticising the “democratic process” and local government system in Karachi.
The senior minister said if local government elections were truly the foundation of democracy, then the people of Punjab should also be given their constitutional right, as the PPP government in Sindh had already provided people with their democratic rights.
He claimed that local government elections in Karachi were held in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that the people elected their representatives and the democratic process was completed. Instead of objecting to the people’s decision, Rafique should respect democratic traditions, he added.
Memon insisted that the PPP believed in democratic institutions, an empowered local government system and respect for the public mandate. He said politics based on double standards could not continue for long before the people.
Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026 ...