Uncertainty over LB polls: ECP to seek more time for Sindh, Punjab

Commission will request Supreme Court to delay polls for four to six weeks.

ISLAMABAD: A day after finalising poll supervisors, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to approach the Supreme Court to seek a revised schedule for local bodies’ elections in Punjab and Sindh.

The top court had directed the ECP on November 5 to hold LB elections in Sindhon November 27 and in Punjab on December 7. The commission swung into action immediately – but the gigantic task is unlikely to be completed within such a short timeframe.

On Sunday, the ECP went into a huddle. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani – who is also a sitting judge of the Supreme Court – led the deliberations. The meeting decided that the ECP would file an application in the apex court today (Monday) seeking a review of the court’s November 5 order.

A senior ECP official who attended Sunday’s meeting told The Express Tribune the commission would ask the Supreme Court for at least four to six weeks more to conduct the LB elections in Punjab and Sindh.

Citing reasons for the delay, he said the two provinces have yet to complete the ongoing process of delimitation of constituencies. The Sindh government has already moved the Supreme Court seeking time for LB elections.

Similarly, elections are not practically possible in Punjab due to the province’s local government laws, the official added. “The ECP has received a flawed notification of the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 from the provincial government,” he said, explaining that the law did not support elections on a party-basis as directed by the Lahore High Court on Thursday.

“Punjab is supposed to make necessary amendments to their LB laws to allow polls on a party-basis.” Officials say the Punjab government has also excused itself from making electoral lists for the LB polls.

ECP officials, meanwhile, said there was no change in the election schedule for Balochistan – the only province ready for holding the polls on December 7, a deadline set by the top court. Nearly a dozen parties have already assured the ECP of their participation in the polls.

Cancellation of transfers and postings

Taking notice of the transfers of Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Ijaz Chaudhry and Managing Director of Printing Corporation of Pakistan Sajjad Saleem Hotiana, the ECP ordered the suspension of both notifications.

In a letter sent to the Establishment Division on Sunday, acting CEC Justice Jillani sought an explanation as to why the transfers were ordered.

“The latest transfers/postings appear to be in violation of the following directive issued by the ECP which states that no transfers/postings of civil servants shall be made after the issuance of the election schedule of local government elections without prior approval of the Election Commission till publication of election results,” the letter stated.

“[As such] the notification regarding such postings/transfers [should] be immediately suspended and an explanation as to why these postings/transfers have been made in violation of the aforesaid directive, be sent to this Commission along with list of officers whose transfers/postings have been made within 48 hours for placing before the acting CEC,” the acting CEC wrote.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th,2013.