Local government: Supreme Court deadline for delimitation not feasible, says Sanaullah

‘The SC deadline of January 30 was ideal but the LHC ruling changed that’.

LAHORE:

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said on Thursday the government would be unable to legislate on local government elections till November.

Speaking to newsmen outside the provincial assembly, Sanauallah gave several reasons why the implementation of a Supreme Court ruling on local government elections was not “feasible.”

The Supreme Court on Wednesday had asked the provincial government to complete legislation on relevant clauses of Local Government Act by November 2014.

Sanaullah said the Punjab Local Government Act had clauses for delimitations but the Lahore High Court had struck it down, declaring delimitations carried out by the government illegal.

He said now the Supreme Court had asked the government to amend the act so the Election Commission of Pakistan could undertake the delimitation.

Sanaullah said that there was some ambiguity in the ruling.

He said Article 222 of the Constitution said legislation on delimitation was the function of the parliament, not provincial assemblies.

He also said the ECP did not have the human resources to carry out delimitations. He said even if the ECP was willing, there would be complications on account of 1998 census findings and the 2011 voters’ list. He said these complications won’t be resolved till 2016.

He said the Supreme Court’s order for election by January 30, 2014, had been ideal but the LHC ruling had changed that.

He said there had been 400 objections to 8,000 delimitations but instead of addressing those, the courts had struck down the system.He said that the courts’ order for implementation of its ruling without addressing complications was unfair. He said there were loopholes in the terrorism laws and the criminal justice system. Commenting on MQM leader Altaf Hussain’s statements, he said Altaf needed to undergo a series of medical tests to determine his mental stability.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2014.