Cantonment Board elections: Apex court solicits poll body’s opinion on local government election

Three-judge bench questions why cantonment elections have been postponed so close to general elections.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court questioned on Tuesday why local government elections in cantonment boards had been delayed till May 2013, when preparations for the general elections will already be in order.

The court sought the opinion of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ascertain whether it would be able to handle organising the cantonment board elections when already burdened with preparing for the general elections.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed were hearing a constitutional petition on elections in cantonment boards.

The court had earlier directed the deputy attorney general of Pakistan and defence ministry representative Commander Shahbaz Hussain to come prepared with relevant records of cantonment board elections and inform the court of the ministry’s stance on the matter.

Hussain had informed the bench on Monday that a summary has been submitted to the prime minister, and after his approval, it would be forwarded to ECP to arrange polls in cantonments. Local government elections have not been held in cantonments since 1999.

Justice Saeed said, “If civilians are governed by civilian representatives, then what is the justification for postponing local government elections in the cantonment boards?”



The chief justice remarked that the British had established these boards in 1924 and they were to have civilian representatives, but this never happened. “Civilians and military both have their own jurisdictions and their separate defined roles,” he said. The chief justice pointed out that taxpayer money is also involved in the matter and so, civilians should be given the right to choose their representatives.

The court asked the defence ministry representative to withdraw the letter calling for postponement of elections. It observed that it would also look into why the local government elections had not been held in cantonments since 1999.

Hussain merely responded by saying that the postponement had been approved by the prime minister and that they will hold the elections ‘soon’ after approval from competent authorities.

Justice Azmat said, “You have to hold the elections if there is no legal hurdle in this regard. If the elections are postponed, then there should be valid legal ground (for the delay),” he added.

The bench directed Deputy Attorney General Dil Muhammad Alizai to come prepared and let it know the definite stance of the government at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2012.