Is anyone overseeing the LG polls?

One can infer from the present state of affairs that there is no governance in the country. More than 50 departments and corporations are headless, but there is no headway to fill the vacuum due to which daily work of these institutions is affected to a great extent. On the contrary, we see that heads of important bodies such as NADRA and the Higher Education Commission constantly vacating their critical and demanding administrative offices.

Amidst claims of rigging after the May 11 general elections, Fakhruddin G Ebrahim tendered his resignation from the post of chief election commissioner (CEC). Though a committee was formed to appoint a new CEC, so far, the ruling as well as the opposition parties are silent about this important constitutional post despite the fact that local government elections are due to be held in three provinces, including the federal capital.

A serving judge of the apex court is currently also serving as an acting chief of the electoral body when his key duty is actually to sit at the bench for the dispensation of justice among the parties including the body which he is heading temporarily.

The exercise of local bodies? These elections are of paramount importance following the May 11 general elections. Indeed, these polls will be a greater challenge to conduct as they require mores crupulous administration. For the general elections, the ECP published 19 crore ballot papers, while for local bodies elections in just Punjab province, 30 crore ballot papers were required, which gives an accurate insight into the gravity of the challenge at hand.

Sheer negligence can be attributed to the Punjab and Sindh governments for not holding local bodies? elections with consensus of relevant stakeholders, particularly when the same parties are in power since 2008. It is shocking that no homework has been done for all this time. But, one must give credit to the politicians for demarcating their provinces and completing the delimitations process that was later overruled by provincial courts.

It is starkingly obvious that the federal and provincial governments are not ready to give priority to this very basic devolution of power that is directly linked to the development and welfare of common people. These governments are also denying the constitutional right to the public to government themselves. These local bodies elections are also directly linked with law and order and many other problems that we are currently facing. Measures to administer them should be sped up.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2014.