Lahore: The Women Wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Punjab on Monday held a press conference to raise public awareness against the Punjab Local Government Act 2025, which it termed a black law, and to highlight the importance of a province-wide public referendum on the issue.The press conference was addressed by Secretary General JI Women Wing Pakistan Dr. Humaira Tariq, Deputy Secretary Sameena Saeed, President Central Punjab Nazia Tauheed, and other women leaders of the party.Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Humaira Tariq said that the failure of successive provincial governments to establish empowered local governments reflects a clear anti-democratic and anti-people policy. She said the Punjab government has not held local government elections since 2015, which is a blatant violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution. She termed the Punjab Local Government Act 2025 a law aimed at transferring authority from elected representatives to the bureaucracy.Deputy Secretary Sameena Saeed said the Act deprives l ocal governments of political, financial, and administrative powers, thereby undermining the very concept of public representation. She remarked that those who raise slogans about respecting the vote are, in practice, unwilling to devolve power to the grassroots level.Senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader Dr. Samiha Raheel Qazi warned that abolishing Metropolitan Corporations in major cities, including Lahore, and replacing them with Town Corporations is a dangerous move. She said Metropolitan Corporations ensured integrated city planning, large-scale development projects, equitable distribution of resources, and uniform municipal governance. Their dissolution, she added, has fragmented cities and centralized authority in the hands of the provincial government and bureaucracy.President Central Punjab Nazia Tauheed said Lahore has been divided into seven Town Corporations, with planning powers transferred to the provincial government while implementation remains under bureaucratic control. She described the Town C orporations as ineffective institutions and said the entire system runs counter to democratic norms and public participation.JI Lahore Women Wing President Uzma Imran said Jamaat-e-Islami is actively campaigning across Lahore and Punjab to protect public rights against what she called an unconstitutional and anti-people local government law. She added that JI Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has already declared the Act undemocratic and anti-public, and that the party has challenged it in court and staged protests at district and divisional levels.The speakers emphasized that Jamaat-e-Islami is holding press conferences and awareness activities across Punjab ahead of the province-wide public referendum scheduled for January 15, 2026, urging citizens to participate and voice their opinion in favor of an empowered local government system in line with Article 140-A of the Constitution. Several JI women leaders, including Dr. Zubaida Jabeen, Shehnaz Asma, Rashida Shaheen, Rafia Khalid, Safiha Nasir, Shazia Abdul Qadir, Shaima Usman, and Zaib Asif, were also present at the press conference.