ISLAMABAD: In the absence of a local government law, the election commission appears to be unable to announce a schedule for the polls in the capital, planned for July 25, delaying the electoral process.

A senior ECP official told Dawn that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is prepared to hold the elections but the local government act passed by the National Assembly on March 26 has been pending in the Senate for months.

According to the tentative schedule submitted by the ECP to the Supreme Court, the final schedule should have been announced sometime last week, while Tuesday (today) would be the last day for filing nomination papers.

However, the announcement of the schedule presents a dilemma for the chief election commissioner as the announcement before the passage of a local government act could invite criticism against lawmakers and failure to share the schedule may invite the wrath of the apex court.

During the last hearing in March, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Jawad S. Khawaja directed the ECP to hold local government elections in the capital on July 25 by any means and the same order had also been given to the government.

The ECP official discussed the preparations made by the ECP so far and said that delimitation of the 79 rural and urban union councils has been completed and notified on June 15.

“A district returning officer, 13 returning officers (ROs) and 26 assistant returning officers (AROs) were appointed on June 8,” he said.

The polling staff, the official said, had been directed to work on a polling scheme. According to the bill passed by the National Assembly, six ballot papers in different colours are to be printed for each voter.

Legislation has been with Senate for months

The official told Dawn that paper for the ballots had been procured while nomination papers have been printed.

“The interior minister has been informed about the issues in the bill passed by the National Assembly and if the government is serious about holding polls, these should be removed and the amended version of the bill should be passed by the Senate,” the official said.

Meanwhile, a petition filed by four individuals with the Islamabad High Court, challenged the legality of the whole exercise. The petitioners contend that initiating the electoral process without legal and constitutional mandate undermines the process, as well as the citizens’ faith in grassroots level democracy.

The petition pointed out that during the hearing of the Supreme Court in CP No 77 of 2010, the federal government moved the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015 in the National Assembly and assured the apex court that it would be approved in the ensuing session.

On this basis, the court in its judgment dated March 6, 2015 directed the federal government and the ECP to initiate the election process. The petitioners’ counsel contended that rather than implementing the Supreme Court’s directive in letter and spirit, the federal government failed to move any bill for incorporating necessary constitutional amendments in article 140-A and the Federal Legislative List contained in the fourth schedule of the Constitution. The government, they argued, had also failed to get the ICT Local Government Act, 2015 promulgated which contained a number of anomalies and so was unlikely to be passed by the Senate anytime soon.

The petitioners have also questioned the legal validity of the delimitation of constituencies, when the ordinance for delimitation of 2014 had lapsed on June 11, 2015 after an extension of 120 days given by the National Assembly in February.

Meanwhile, rumours are abound that various lobbies are busy working to delay the local government polls which would take away the powers of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Under the new law, the affairs of the city would be managed by the metropolitan corporation comprising all union council chairmen who would in turn elect the all powerful mayor of the corporation.

Legal experts opine that the only way forward in the current circumstances is for the apex court to issue a fresh deadline to the government for the passage of the local government law.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2015

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