By decree: Govt empowers ECP to delimit constituencies

Presidential ordinances remove main hurdle in holding long pending local government polls.

ISLAMABAD:

After a strict warning from the Supreme Court, the government on Tuesday empowered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delimit constituencies for local governments in the provinces and at the centre through a presidential decree.

President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated two ordinances to this effect both of which will need parliamentary approval at some stage. The presidential decree has removed one of the bigger hurdles in holding local government elections in the provinces that is pending since 2009.



Under the existing constitutional framework amended in 2010, barring the elections for provincial legislatures and two houses of parliament, all matters related to local governments have been transferred to the provinces. These include delimitation of constituencies, formulation of their own local government systems and regulation of all related affairs.

While other provinces, especially Sindh and Punjab, have long been procrastinating on the issue of LG elections, the Balochistan government conducted the exercise in December last year – but its local governments are yet to start functioning.

Under unrelenting pressure from the Supreme Court, Sindh and Punjab enacted legislation and delimited constituencies which were subsequently challenged by opposition parties in the two provinces in their respective high courts. The superior courts annulled these delimitations and ordered the ECP to demarcate boundaries of local councils. It only needed amending the laws.

Since no opposition party challenged delimitations in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government has submitted before the Supreme Court that it was ready to hold LG elections.

LG laws for the Islamabad Capital Territory are pending with a parliamentary committee on interior before final approval from parliament. The ordinances promulgated by President Mamnoon on Tuesday have empowered the ECP to conduct delimitations for ICT as well.

In February this year, the Supreme Court had given the provinces the November 15 deadline for completion of all pre-requisites for holding LG polls. However, the top court was angered by the lack of seriousness on the part of the provinces when it took up the matter on Tuesday.

Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt informed the apex court that an ordinance to empower the ECP to delimit constituencies was ready and with the president. He sought some time for the government to get it signed by the president. The court ordered the ordinance to be issued by the end of this week.

Under these directives, President Mamnoon issued two separate ordinances. Through the presidential decree the relevant laws have been amended and the ECP has been empowered not only to carry out delimitations but also to frame related rules. These ordinances also empowered the premier electoral body to resolve all disputes related to delimitations for LG polls.

Though changes in the laws brought through presidential ordinances get operational immediately, every ordinance needs to be approved by the National Assembly and the Senate within 120 days of its promulgation.

If parliament doesn’t approve it within the stipulated timeframe, the government can re-enact it for another 120 days after passing a resolution in its favour in the National Assembly. If no parliamentary approval follows through after the lapse of eight months, the law loses its validity.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.