The Punjab Assembly has unanimously urged the federal government to introduce the 27th Amendment to the Constitution to guarantee political, administrative, and financial empowerment of local governments. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan said democracy loses meaning when citizens fail to experience its benefits at the grassroots level.
The Assembly passed a resolution proposing a new constitutional chapter mandating timely local elections and prohibiting any political party from dissolving elected local bodies before term completion. The motion declared Article 140-A incomplete, stressing the need for provinces to devolve real powers to local tiers.
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Malik Ahmed Khan lamented the delay in restoring local governments after their dissolution, saying, “Drainage and sanitation issues still persist because institutions remain powerless.” He insisted that if a 27th Amendment is required to constitutionally secure local governance, “it must be enacted without delay.”
He further cautioned that a powerless parliament undermines democracy and reaffirmed that Punjab has sent detailed recommendations to Parliament to ensure local governments receive lasting constitutional protection.
