Sir: Now that the prime minister has said that it is not possible to conduct a national census for lack of resources or whatever, the local bodies elections, especially in Punjab, should be conducted after completing the preliminary work for the election. With the return of democracy to Pakistan where the country had its first smooth transition of power from one elected government to another, such ‘experiments’ with democracy at the local level sound irresponsible. Ironically, the civilian governments have always been averse to having a local bodies system. The past five years are testimony to this. One feels that had it not been for the Supreme Court (SC), there might still be no elections. Being the lynchpin of democratic rule, local bodies elections cannot be bypassed to foster bureaucracy, or to concentrate power in the hands of a few. Mahwesh Khan Peshawar