Local govt elections: ECP fails to notify poll schedule for Sindh, Punjab

Acting CEC Tassaduq Jillani resigns, Justice Nasirul Mulk named as replacement.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to notify the schedule for local government elections in Punjab and Sindh on Friday, indicating that the already protracted process could be beset by even further delays.

ECP officials said the commission could not notify the schedule because neither of the two provinces had completed the prerequisites by November 28 – the deadline set by election authorities.

According to them, both provinces had to complete three basic conditions: make sure their local government laws were ready; finalise rules accordingly; and carry out delimitation of constituencies for the polls.

After meeting these conditions, the provincial authorities need to file the relevant paperwork before the ECP, they said. Under the law, the provinces must inform the ECP that delimitations have been carried out and the required legislative work is complete before the commission can issue a schedule for the polls.

ECP officials said the Punjab chief secretary has assured the commission that the province will submit its notification regarding the delimitation by December 5. Authorities in Sindh, on the other hand, have only sent copies of their local government laws and rules, without mentioning when they will notify the ECP about the delimitation process.

In a meeting with the ECP on November 19, authorities from all four provinces had urged the commission to further delay the local government polls.

The ECP, however, rejected their pleas on the ground that it had assured the Supreme Court that the local government polls would be held by January 18 in Sindh, January 30 in Punjab and by the end of February in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad Capital Territory and cantonment areas.

With the case lingering on since 2009, and with a number of deadlines missed already, the court only agreed to extend the deadlines it had set earlier – November 27 in Sindh and December 7 in Punjab – only after it was assured that the polls would be held by the aforementioned dates.

Meanwhile, an ECP official told The Express Tribune that the matter would have to be placed before the new acting chief election commissioner (CEC) once he assumes charge.

Acting CEC Tassaduq Hussain Jillani – who will take over as the chief justice of Pakistan after CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry retires on December 12 – resigned from the post on Friday.

Justice Nasirul Mulk, who will be the senior-most judge once Justice Chaudhry retires, has been named as Justice Jillani’s replacement. He is likely to take the oath of his new office today (Saturday).

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2013.