ECP cautions Sindh over LG polls delay

Suspends two officers for negligence in pursuing decision on tribunals.

ISLAMABAD: The vote supervisory body on Tuesday warned the Sindh government that local government elections in the province could get further delayed if the provincial government failed to provide documents the commission had been asking for.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary wrote a letter to the Sindh’s chief secretary with regard to provision of updated version of Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 and the Sindh Local Councils (Elections) Rules, 2015.

The secretary in his letter reminded the chief secretary of the commitment to finalise the said act and rules latest by August 7, 2015 and its provision to the ECP at the earliest. He said the Sindh chief secretary had not provided these documents so far.

“This position is a clear lapse on the part of chief secretary and that the ECP has taken a serious notice of it,” the letter said.

Sharing contents of their secretary’s letter, the ECP media wing said he had also cautioned the province that if the election process was stalled or impeded, the responsibility would squarely lie on the Sindh chief secretary for not fulfilling his commitment. The ECP asked the chief secretary to ensure that the updated act and rules are made available to the commission within 48 hours.

ECP suspends two officers

The ECP has suspended two of its officers for negligence in pursuing a decision of the commission regarding post-election tribunals.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the ECP said it decided on June 22, 2015 not to extend the tenure of the election tribunals in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beyond August 31, 2015 and to ask the concerned high courts to appoint serving judges, in case of further pending of some cases.

The decision was, however, not implemented till August 19 due to lapse on the part of some officials. Later, a preliminary internal inquiry revealed that Deputy Director Muhammad Saeed and the Establishment Section’s Assistant Director Muhammad Ramzan did not timely deliver copy of the decision to the concerned quarters for implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.