Mayoral contest: Legal ambiguity clouds PML-N clean sweep

Ruling party fails to get timely extension in Islamabad local government ordinance

ISLAMABAD:

On Monday, with the election of the first-ever mayor of the capital, the city’s residents’ right to be governed democratically at the local level got acknowledged but a legal hitch made the whole process controversial, to say the least.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s nominated candidates for mayor and three deputy mayors easily won the election.

However, the contest was marred by a legal ambiguity as the ruling party failed to get a timely extension in the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 from the parliament before the holding of the election.

On October 9, last year, through the presidential ordinance the number of deputy mayor seats in the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) was increased from one to three. The ordinance lapsed on February 11, 2016, after the expiry of 120 days since its promulgation.

The government was required to get a formal endorsement from the parliament well before its expiry.

The PML-N managed to get an extension in the ordinance on Monday evening from the National Assembly but only after the completion of the mayoral election process and the announcement of results by the district returning officer (DRO).

The extension was granted with effect from February 11 – the day when the ordinance lapsed.

“The election of mayor and three deputies was held without legal cover. It can be challenged in the court of law,” legal expert and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Kamran Murtaza told The Express Tribune when asked to comment on the ambiguity. He said that the whole election process was controversial and it could stir a legal battle over its validity.

Meanwhile, according to the results announced by the Islamabad DRO, Aleem Shahab, the mayor-elect of Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz secured 49 out of total 75 polled votes; while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s candidate for mayor, Raja Khurram Nawaz managed 26 votes.

The three deputy mayors-elect include Chaudhry Riffat Javed, Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Azam Khan. They also belong to the PML-N.

The 77-member Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) – comprising 50 elected UC chairmen and 27 elected members on reserved seats – were supposed to vote to elect the mayor and the three deputy mayors.

However, on the day of election 75 votes were polled.

The PTI’s candidate for mayor, Nawaz, following the election said, “PTI accepts the results. We will play the role of a strong opposition in the metropolitan corporation for the betterment of residents of Islamabad.”

The first elected mayor of the city, Sheikh Ansar Aziz, while talking to The Express Tribune said his foremost priority would be to upgrade and revamp the existing decaying infrastructure of the federal capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2016.