Cantonment LG polls on party basis, says ECP

High level meeting at ECP to discuss options for printing ballot papers

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday decided in principle to hold local government elections in cantonment areas across Pakistan on party basis.

The decision, which will bring local bodies to cantonment areas after a gap of 17 years, goes against the federal government’s desire to ensure that local government elections are held on non-party basis.

The schedule for the polls is likely to remain unchanged as polling in 43 cantonment areas of the country would take place on April 25.



“There is no other option except holding LG polls on party basis,” said a senior ECP official while talking to The Express Tribune. The official cited a recent decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) which had termed non-party elections in cantonment areas as unconstitutional. The court in its judgment had struck down Section 61 of the Cantonment Ordinance, 2002 and Section 14 of the Cantonment Local Government (Elections) Ordinance, 2002 declaring them ultra vires of Article 17 (2) of the Constitution.

Both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had moved the LHC and the Supreme Court respectively against the government’s decision to go ahead with party-less local government elections. Earlier in the day, Acting Secretary ECP Sher Afgan told the media that the ECP was bound to obey the orders of the LHC.

Responding to a question, the ECP official added that letters would be dispatched to returning officers asking them to obtain party tickets from the candidates before allocating election symbols on April 11.

Printing ballot papers

A high level meeting at the ECP has been scheduled for today (Wednesday) to discuss the issue of printing ballot papers for LG polls in all provinces.

According to a senior official at the ECP, the meeting would look into options for printing over 500 million ballot papers as the government did not have printing facility to cater for such a large number.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2015.