ISLAMABAD: The fate of local bodies (LB) elections in three provinces on the schedule proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appears to be gloomy as none of the provinces has so far completed the prerequisites for announcement of the schedule and the issue of printing of over 500 million ballot papers in the limited time also could not be resolved on Tuesday.

A meeting of the ECP was informed by the Sindh chief secretary that the province was facing some problems and would be able to complete the delimitation exercise by Nov 13, 10 days after the proposed date for receiving nomination papers.

Punjab will complete the exercise next week, while Balochistan said the process in three remaining districts of Pishin, Khuzdar and Quetta would be completed in 24 hours.

The position taken by the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) at the meeting held to discuss arrangements for the polls also appears to have compounded the problem.

According to sources, the PSPC managing director said the corporation was preoccupied with printing currency notes, postal stamps and passports and was not in a position to print the ballot papers.

The MD of the Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) said it would require about 130 days for printing the ballot papers.

An idea to involve private printing presses in the exercise was also mulled to reduce the workload on PCP and expedite the matter, but was dropped for fear of breach of secrecy. It was decided that presses owned by different government institutions would be involved in the process under the security umbrella of troops.

The matter of procurement of magnetised ink and inkpads also remained undecided.

A representative of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) was informed about the requirement of over 2.2 million stamp pads and ink.

The PCSIR is looking as to how the huge procurement can be made in the short time and will report back to the ECP.

Briefing reporters, the ECP’s acting Additional Secretary, Syed Sher Afgan, said Punjab had proposed in its local government law the appointment of commissioners and district magistrates as appellate authorities. He said the commission had asked the Punjab government to amend the law to provide for appointment of judicial officers as appellate tribunals and the province had agreed to do so on Wednesday. Sindh and Balochistan said they had already taken the step.

Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan said the funds required for conducting the elections would be released in a few days.

The ECP official said troops would be deployed at all polling stations falling in the ‘most sensitive’ category. Each province will convey its requirements after completion of the polling scheme.

Mr Afgan replied in affirmative when asked if the polls in Sindh would be conducted on Nov 27.

He, however, parried a question as to how the commission would issue the election schedule on Nov 1 in accordance with its proposed plan before the completion of delimitation.

He said printing of ballot papers was the biggest challenge and a meeting would be held on Wednesday to sort out the matter.

Legal experts believe that the announcement of election schedule before the notification of delimitation would not only be a violation of the law but also lead to confusion. Candidates may file nomination papers for a local body they do not fall in and would discover it after the delimitation is completed.

The sources quoted ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan as saying that the code of conduct for the polls would be released by Thursday.

The experts expressed fear that several laws might be violated if the elections were rushed through.

The provinces are carrying out delimitation on the basis of the census of 1998 and bringing the electoral rolls in conformity with it would require door-to-door verification and display of the rolls for 21 days. If it is done, the exercise will take the polls beyond the dates on which the Supreme Court has ordered them to be held.

The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules requiring minimum 15 days for inviting bids may also be ignored because of paucity of time.