Schedule approved: LG polls in capital on July 27

Supreme Court approves Election Commission’s proposed schedule for polls.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) finally issued a schedule for conducting local government elections in Islamabad.

The ECP submitted its proposed schedule for the much-awaited polls to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and it was subsequently approved. The polls, according to the schedule, will be held on July 27.

ECP Additional Secretary Sher Afgan said that it would be the first time local government elections would be held in urban areas of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The last such elections in the rural areas were held in 1979.

A petition seeking orders to hold local bodies elections was moved in the apex court by a newspaper publisher in 2002.

A three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja directed the EC to strictly follow the schedule.

Muhammad Bilal, the petitioner’s counsel, said that the bench also directed the EC to keep the judges informed about any progress made.

During a hearing last week, the ECP pointed out that the proposed Local Government Bill 2013 still needed parliamentary approval.

Bilal said the bench observed that the cabinet had already approved the draft and the ECP should not use the issue as an excuse to delay the polls.

The proposed Local Government Act 2013 for Islamabad says that the federal capital will have a metropolitan corporation, comprising members directly elected from wards and headed by a mayor.

Election schedule

According to the schedule submitted with the apex court, activity would start on June 1 with the issuance of notices by returning officers (ROs). The dates for filling nomination papers with ROs are from June 8 to June 13, while the dates for scrutiny of papers are from June 15 to 20.

The last date for filing appeals against the decisions of ROs will be June 24, while the last date for tribunals to issue decisions on appeals is June 30. Similarly, the last date for withdrawal of candidature and publication of revised list of candidates are July 3 and July 7, respectively. Polling will be held on July 27.

Commenting on the issue, Centre for Civic Education Pakistan Executive Director Zafarullah Khan said that till date the citizens of Islamabad were denied democracy.

“Islamabad is voiceless,” Khan said, adding that a vast majority of the elected representatives of Islamabad in the Senate and National Assembly are not natives of the city. “How could they decide on the future of locals?” he asked.

Citing the adverse impact of the Metro Bus Project on the capital’s environment, Khan said that if Islamabad was represented by locals, they would have resisted such a project.

Khan said that selection of citizens as decision makers of Islamabad would help resolve these problems.

Parties ready to participate

PTI senior leader and advisor to party chairperson Dr Shahzad Waseem lauded the development and said that the party leadership and activists were eager to participate in local government elections.

Waseem urged the government to ensure provision of political, financial and administrative rights to the people of Islamabad under Article 140-A of the proposed Islamabad Local Government Bill.

PPP Islamabad President Faisal Sakhi Butt said his party appreciated the development.

He expressed reservations, however, about the role of the bureaucracy in smooth devolution of power.

PML-N MNA for NA-49 Tariq Chaudhry said that the PML-N would contest the local government elections in Islamabad. He said the Islamabad Local Government Act 2013 had already been approved by the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.

“The government will ensure passage of the bill well before the date announced for the elections,” Chaudhry said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.