ECP mulls judicial order to tackle LG polls delay

Body forms committee to prepare recommendations

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is considering seeking a judicial order against the federal government as well as the provincial governments for failing to hold local government polls in time, sources said on Friday.

A committee has also been set up to furnish recommendations for this purpose within a week.

Sources said the ECP was irked by the “indifferent attitude “of the provincial governments towards its directives and the continuous postponement of LG elections.

It has urged the federal government to adopt a “clear and unequivocal” strategy on the LG elections and enact legislation to prevent the provinces from finding a way out of them.

“If our recommendations are not followed then the sole responsibility for the LG elections will be entrusted to the government,” an ECP official told The Express Tribune.

Reliable sources said the commission had expressed its frustration over the attitude of the federal and provincial governments towards the LG elections and cantonment board polls.

“The ECP is a constitutional body. If the federal and provincial governments do not change their attitude, a judicial order will be issued,” the ECP official added.

A funds dispute between the government and the ECP has also emerged over the Cantonment Board elections, scheduled to take place on September 12.

This might lead to a postponement of the polls.

The ECP penned a letter to the ministry of finance, stating that it required funds to make the appropriate arrangements for the polls.

Sources said the commission had to approach the president and the prime minister’s office to take up the issue of funds required for the cantonment board elections.

Earlier this week, the Sindh government in a meeting with the ECP had again expressed its inability to hold the LG polls due to a pending case in the court on the 2017 census results.

On Wednesday, the ECP decided to meet regularly to ensure the holding of LG elections in the province and summoned the Sindh chief secretary, local government secretary and provincial advocate general on September 7.

The chief secretary told the ECP that the Sindh government could not hold LG elections as it had reservations over the 2017 census results and wanted to make changes in Sindh Local Government Act, which could take around six months.

The ECP secretary observed that the term of local governments in Sindh had expired on August 30 last year and the commission must hold polls within 120 days after the expiry of the term.

The ECP maintained that holding local government polls in Sindh was its constitutional and legal responsibility and that the provincial government should assist it in the matter.