LG elections 2013 or 2014?: Non-partisan polls for village councils only

PESHAWAR:

Local government (LG) elections will be held on a non-party basis at the village council level, said Minister for Local Government, Elections and Rural Development (LG&RD) Inayatullah Khan on Wednesday.

Responding to members during the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly’s question hour, Inayatullah explained an initial draft of the local government bill has been prepared by the department and working group on local bodies. The draft now awaits approval from the establishment and law departments as well as the provincial cabinet.

The issue was raised by Awami National Party (ANP) lawmaker Mian Jaffer Shah.

ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak also asked the government to explain the contours of the proposed local government system.

Inayatullah clarified while the proposed law envisions non-party elections for village councils, polls for tehsil and district councils will be held on a party basis. However, he added, the law was not yet final, and cabinet and assembly members may propose amendments once the draft is presented to the assembly.

Back to 1985

During the session, Babak termed non-party councils “undemocratic and a conspiracy against democracy.” He argued polls held outside the partisan system will “weaken political parties.”

Many lawmakers from the opposition benches wanted to speak on this issue but an angry objection from Qaumi Watan Party lawmaker Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli disrupted the proceedings. Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser asked lawmakers to submit fresh questions in this regard but none did after the outburst.

LG timeline

The Supreme Court had mandated holding local body polls within a given timeframe but the Election Commission of Pakistan has expressed its inability to do so within the period, noted Inayatullah. After the law is enacted, there are 45 days for delimitation and another 15 days to hear appeals against the delimitations of roughly 4,000 union councils. To do all this within 60 days is a phenomenal undertaking, said the LG minister.

If the government manages to pass the LG law during the current session of the assembly, elections could possibly be held in December. If not, Inayatullah added, the electoral process would be shifted to later dates.

Standing Committees

The speaker informed the house standing committees will be announced during the ongoing session.

The issue was raised by opposition lawmakers when Jamaat-e-Islami MPA Muzaffar Syed inquired about a water supply issue and the matter was referred to the relevant committee of the house. However, opposition benches pointed out no standing committees have been formed as yet. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lawmaker Munawar Khan reminded Farman it was the government’s duty to form the said committees.

The assembly also passed K-P Explosives Bill 2013 and K-P Explosive Substance Bill 2013. The session was later adjourned till Thursday afternoon (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2013.