Lahore (UMAR HAYAT CH) Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore has completed all arrangements for a four-day public referendum against the Punjab Government’s Local Government Act 2025, which the party has termed a “black law.” Former President of the Lahore High Court Bar Association and Referendum Commissioner, Shafqat Mahmood Chauhan, has formally issued ballot boxes and ballot papers to all designated polling stations.According to Jamaat-e-Islami, a total of 1,400 polling stations have been established across 30 provincial constituencies of Lahore. The public referendum will be held from January 15 to 18, 2026, during which citizens of Lahore will express their lack of confidence in the existing local government law.Briefing the media on the final preparations, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore, Ziauddin Ansari Advocate, stated that all logistical and administrative arrangements for the referendum have been finalized. He emphasized that the referendum aims to provide the public with a platform to freely express their opinion on the local government system.Ziauddin Ansari urged citizens to actively participate in the referendum by casting their votes at polling stations or through online voting at https://poll.jamaat.org/ as well as via the provided QR code. He clarified that the referendum is not limited to any single political party but represents a broader struggle for public sovereignty, local democracy, and an empowered local government system.He further stated that Jamaat-e-Islami believes local government elections should be conducted on a party basis to ensure accountability at the grassroots level. He also demanded that local chairpersons be elected directly by the public, enabling genuine representation.Calling for constitutional reforms, Ziauddin Ansari demanded that local governments be granted full financial, political, and administrative autonomy. He asserted that government officers and bureaucracy should work under elected local representatives to ensure effective and timely resolution of public issues.Criticizing the Punjab Local Government Act 2025, he termed it unconstitutional and contrary to democratic principles, stating that it undermines local democracy and deprives citizens of their right to governance. Jamaat-e-Islami, he added, outrightly rejects the law and will continue to raise its voice against it at the public level.
