Delimitation for K-P's local govt polls on June 6

Village, neighbourhood councils to be demarcated by Oct 13

PESHAWAR:

The provincial election commission on Thursday announced that starting next week, it will begin the process of delimitation of village and neighbourhood councils so that local government elections can be held.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Election Commission in a statement on Thursday said that the process of delimitation is set to commence on Monday, July 6, and is expected to be completed in a little over three months, by October 13.

District election commissioners have been appointed as conveners of committees formed to carry out the delimitation process while the assistant commissioner of the same district and the local government department assistant director will be members of the delimitation committee, it read.

All preparations for the purpose will be completed between July 6 and July 25, while all committees will submit their primary list of councils and neighbourhoods between July 27 and August 20, the statement read.

To address public complaints, reservations and suggestions on delimitations, an initial list of the councils will be published on August 21. The public will be allowed to report their reservations, suggestions and complaints to the delimitation committee between August 22 to September 6. Decisions on all such suggestions, observations and complaints will be taken by October 5. After addressing complaints and incorporating suggestions, if necessary, the delimitation authority will inform the district committee on October 12 and a final list of the councils will be published on October 13.

The term for the last local government in K-P ended in August 2019. Before the term of the local government ended, the provincial government had amended the local government law to empower the neighbourhood and village councils.

The provincial government explained that the changes to the local government system will enable the public to formulate their own developmental strategy by providing a more participatory approach.

The ratio of village councillors in all districts, including those merged from the tribal areas, was 86 per cent and the neighbourhood councillor ratios were 14 per cent. Peshawar had been divided into urban and rural tehsils.

While making the amendments early last year, the provincial government had tentatively decided to frame the election rules in the middle of March 2020 and the election commission would start the delimitation process in April. But this never happened.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2020.