A longer wait: LG polls may face further delay as ANP goes to court

The opposition party is expected to challenge two clauses from the LG Act 2013.

PESHAWAR:

Local government (LG) polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) were expected to be held in March. They may face further delay as the Awami National Party (ANP) looks to challenge some clauses of the LG act in court.

Opposition parties had opposed two clauses in the K-P Local Government Act 2013. One was the abolishment of union councils and creation of village and neighbourhood councils instead, while the other clause referred to non-party based elections. The LG elections that were promised to be held in the first three months of the new government could now be postponed even further than March.

ANP parliamentary leader, Sardar Hussain Babak told The Express Tribune that his party had prepared a writ petition to challenge the LG act in Peshawar High Court (PHC). “It is a matter of days before we go to court against some of the LG act’s clauses. He said they wanted the decision of replacing union councils and holding non-party based elections to be reverted.



Babak claimed that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) also had their reservations about the law, which the government had tried to brush under the carpet.

When asked whether legal wrangling may further delay the elections, Babak shifted the blame on to the K-P government, saying they had ignored the opposition’s view on the matter. He claimed non-party based elections were aimed at weakening political forces at the grassroots level.

K-P Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan told The Express Tribune that LG polls were likely to be held in March-April. He said the dates were still tentative because PTI has to further discuss the LG draft with its coalition partners. To a question about legal wrangling over some clauses of the law, Inayat said if that happens, ANP would be responsible for the delay in polls.

“125 out of the 127 clauses were passed unanimously, while the two contentious clauses were put to a voice vote before being passed,” Inayat added. The minister has previously justified the government’s stance by saying they want to devolve power to the grass roots for the welfare and development of K-P.

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