ISLAMABAD: While the printing of ballot papers for the upcoming local government elections in Pakistan’s federal capital of Islamabad is set to begin next week, there is utter confusion over the legality of the polls, scheduled for July 25.
Mainstream political parties have rejected the polling schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the absence of a local government law.
Meanwhile, a privilege motion moved by PPP Senator Saeed Ghani against the ECP’s move, largely seen by lawmakers as illegal, is pending before the Senate Standing Committee on Rules and Administration, which has only recently elected a new chairman.
The ECP, on the directions of the apex court, had announced the schedule for LG polls in Islamabad in anticipation of legislation. The Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill which was passed by the national assembly is still pending before the Senate.
The Senate is scheduled to meet on July 6, for the first time since the Senate Standing Committee on Interior consensually recommended party-based polls in Islamabad.
The ECP has already filed an application with the Supreme Court seeking directions for the government to immediately enact a local government law.
A senior ECP official said that according to the schedule announced by the Commission, the final list of the candidates is to be published on July 6, the day of the senate session.
He said any amendments in the LG law approved by the Senate may delay the electoral exercise. He said any significant amendment including the one to provide for party based polls would require endorsement of the National Assembly.
The PPP has been questioning the legal status of delimitation, appointment of district returning officer, returning officers and assistant returning officers in the absence of a law.
They believe that even if the law is passed before the LG polls, the schedule announced by the ECP and other steps taken in this regard would remain illegal.
PPP’s Farhatullah Babar said the government can end the state of uncertainty by ensuring approval of the amendments in the bill introduced by the Senate in the national assembly where it enjoys majority. “It can be done in a single day if the government is sincere”, he remarked.
He said the demand for party-based local government elections in the Federal Capital was consistent with constitution, law and democratic practice. “If the elections to the Senate and the national assembly are party based and the LG polls in most parts of the country were also party-based, it can be done in Islamabad”, he said.Internews
