According to ECP schedule, the elections will be held on November 27 in Sindh and December 7 in Punjab. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
According to the schedule, the elections will be held on November 27 in Sindh and December 7 in Punjab.
The elections in Balochistan will also take place on December 7 as per the schedule announced by the ECP earlier.
The election body had previously asked the Supreme Court to postpone local bodies’ elections as they were ‘short on time’. The apex court rejected the request.
Elections
These elections would be the first since the local system was devolved to the provinces themselves. Previously, the provinces were functioning under a central federally-constructed system.
While the delays on the part of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are technical, the real setbacks have come due to the lack of laws and rules. While Punjab had passed its local government bill, it is yet to act on fresh delimitations – a crucial exercise for the polls. Sindh, too, is in a similar position – except the provincial government still continues to tweak its laws. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recently passed its local government bill.
Political rivalries have also played their part in hamstringing efforts to put in place local government systems: the Punjab system, put in place by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has been challenged by opposition parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). In Sindh, the PPP is in power, and has also had its local government act challenged by the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The PTI, in power in K-P, also faces a threat of seeing its recently-passed bill taken to court.
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