Deadline missed: ECP fails to notify LG poll schedule for Sindh, Punjab
Poll supervisory body likely to seek one-month delay in polling date.
Election Commission of Pakistan. PHOTO: STOCK IMAGE
ISLAMABAD:
As a deadline set by the Supreme Court lapsed on Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to issue a schedule for local government (LG) elections in Punjab and Sindh. The top court had ordered the poll supervisory body on March 18 to announce the LG election schedule for the two provinces by July 28.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ECP blamed the provincial governments for not fulfilling the requirements of publishing delimitation of constituencies and updating electoral rolls. The provinces require another 15 days to complete the job.
The two provincial governments have requested the ECP to keep the flood situation in view while issuing the LG election schedule as administrative officers are busy supervising relief activities in the affected areas. Likewise, the delimitation process has not been finalised yet as the officers were to receive final decisions on Tuesday, which has been delayed. Another five to six days may be needed to complete this task, the provinces said.
In view of the request, the ECP has decided to ask the Supreme Court for an extension in the deadline for announcing the election schedule till August 17. The commission, however, has made it clear that if the apex court rejects the plea, then the ECP will issue the schedule immediately.
A senior ECP official told The Express Tribune that the commission would file a plea on Wednesday (today), seeking one-month extension for holding the LG polls.
The poll supervisory body has already asked the apex court to allow LG polls in Punjab and Sindh in phases. The request came after a massive administrative mismanagement was witnessed during the LG elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in May. The SC is likely to take up this plea on August 3. On the same day, the court will hear the case related to holding the LG polls in Islamabad also.
Earlier, the ECP had placed the entire burden on the provincial governments for delaying the LG polls for the past nine years. Legal experts believe both the provincial governments do not want to hold the LG polls in the near future as they are waiting for the retirement of senior-most Supreme Court judge Jawwad S Khawaja.
Under the 18th constitutional amendment, each province shall establish local governance for which the elections are to be organised by the ECP. The provinces, however, amended the LG act and appointed administrators as mayors.
In December 2013, the high courts of both provinces struck down the delimitations carried out by the respective governments and on March 19, 2014, the Supreme Court put off the polls for eight months and authorised the ECP to carry out a fresh delimitation process. One year later, the court ordered the ECP to ensure the elections were held on September 20 in both provinces.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2015.
As a deadline set by the Supreme Court lapsed on Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to issue a schedule for local government (LG) elections in Punjab and Sindh. The top court had ordered the poll supervisory body on March 18 to announce the LG election schedule for the two provinces by July 28.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ECP blamed the provincial governments for not fulfilling the requirements of publishing delimitation of constituencies and updating electoral rolls. The provinces require another 15 days to complete the job.
The two provincial governments have requested the ECP to keep the flood situation in view while issuing the LG election schedule as administrative officers are busy supervising relief activities in the affected areas. Likewise, the delimitation process has not been finalised yet as the officers were to receive final decisions on Tuesday, which has been delayed. Another five to six days may be needed to complete this task, the provinces said.
In view of the request, the ECP has decided to ask the Supreme Court for an extension in the deadline for announcing the election schedule till August 17. The commission, however, has made it clear that if the apex court rejects the plea, then the ECP will issue the schedule immediately.
A senior ECP official told The Express Tribune that the commission would file a plea on Wednesday (today), seeking one-month extension for holding the LG polls.
The poll supervisory body has already asked the apex court to allow LG polls in Punjab and Sindh in phases. The request came after a massive administrative mismanagement was witnessed during the LG elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in May. The SC is likely to take up this plea on August 3. On the same day, the court will hear the case related to holding the LG polls in Islamabad also.
Earlier, the ECP had placed the entire burden on the provincial governments for delaying the LG polls for the past nine years. Legal experts believe both the provincial governments do not want to hold the LG polls in the near future as they are waiting for the retirement of senior-most Supreme Court judge Jawwad S Khawaja.
Under the 18th constitutional amendment, each province shall establish local governance for which the elections are to be organised by the ECP. The provinces, however, amended the LG act and appointed administrators as mayors.
In December 2013, the high courts of both provinces struck down the delimitations carried out by the respective governments and on March 19, 2014, the Supreme Court put off the polls for eight months and authorised the ECP to carry out a fresh delimitation process. One year later, the court ordered the ECP to ensure the elections were held on September 20 in both provinces.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2015.