ECP decides to hold LG polls in capital on Dec 31

In a major blow to the Pakistan Muslim League-led federal government, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced that local government (LG) elections would be in the federal capital held as per schedule.

The announcement came a few hours after the federal government announced to increase in the number of union councils (UCs) from the existing 101 to 125 just 10 days prior to the LG polls. The federal government’s decision had left both the candidates and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) astonished.

Earlier in the day on Monday, the federal cabinet, through a notification via the interior ministry, decided that elections would be held in 125 union councils and not in the existing 101 UCs. After the federal government’s decision, all looked at the ECP whether or not it would agree with the government’s stance and postpone the polls till the new delimitations– a process that requires several months.

However, in the evening the top election body issued a written verdict declaring the notification of the Ministry of Interior illegal. It said the LG polls in Islamabad would be conducted on December 31. The ECP said that the decision had been taken under Article 218, 219 and 222 of the constitution.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had opposed the decision of the federal government, stating it was an attempt to evade elections.

The number of Union councils (UC) in the federal capital had been increased from 50 to 101 a few months ago. The ECP re-demarcated constituencies and issued a new schedule.

According to the ECP, all preparations have been completed for holding local body elections in Islamabad. It said that candidates have filed nomination papers and election symbols have been allotted t the candidate.

The poll body said that the polling will be held on December 31.

The ECP said that despite the notification of the federal government, the local elections will be held on December 31. “The notification of the federal government is a violation of the Islamabad Local Government Act 2015,” the ECP said.

According to the ECP order, the printing of ballot papers, and training of polling staff have also been done for the Islamabad local body elections. In the notification, the ECP said that the federal government issued a notification to increase the number of union councils in Islamabad from 101 to 125, the federal government did so without the consent of the election commission.

Earlier, the ECP postponed the local government elections in Islamabad as it agreed to conduct a new delimitation exercise in the federal territory and raise the number of union councils.

The decision was taken after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) pleading to extend the date for the local body polls.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2022.