Campaigning for the local government elections is slowly picking pace. PHOTO: FILE
The Senate Committee on Interior is likely to miss its self-imposed June 11 deadline for presentation of a report before the Senate on the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill 2015.
A committee meeting in parliament on Wednesday, however, did not deliberate on the pending legislation due to time constraints, despite the fact that the issue was an agenda item.
On May 29, the committee, headed by Senator Rehman Malik, formed a three-member subcommittee to discuss the proposed bill.
But despite passage of nearly two weeks, the subcommittee has not held a single meeting on the issue.
At the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting, Malik called upon the subcommittee to expedite the process, saying, “We have to follow Supreme Court deadlines regarding holding local body elections in Islamabad.”
Malik expressed hope that the committee would table its report before the house during the ongoing budget session in the Senate.
Talking to The Express Tribune, subcommittee member Senator Mohammad Javed Abbasi said the panel would hold its first meeting on June 15. He said the subcommittee had received requests from citizens and representatives of the CDA labour union to hold a public hearing on the pending bill before finalisation of the report.
“On Monday, the subcommittee will hold a public hearing and citizens are invited to participate and suggest changes to the proposed bill,” Abbasi said.
To a question about possible delays, Abbasi assured that the subcommittee would finalise its report at the earliest, with the deadline in mind.
Currently, the Local Government Ordinance 1997 governs Islamabad, under which four local body elections have been held, all limited to rural areas of the territory. The Last election was held in February 1992.
The Supreme Court, in an order from July 17, 2013, directed that “elections should be held in both rural as well as urban areas and there should not be any distinction between the areas for holding local bodies’ elections”.
On July 22, 2013, the apex court directed the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration to frame a new law or incorporate any necessary amendments into existing laws to hold local government elections in the area.
Following the court orders, the draft Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill, 2013 was presented before the cabinet, which approved it.
On March 25, 2015, the National Assembly also approved the bill, with some amendments, and forwarded it to the Senate. The upper house challenged a clause calling for non-party elections and sent the bill to the Senate Committee on Interior.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2015.
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