ISLAMABAD: Local government elections are set to be delayed for months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the provincial government keeps dragging its feet in the name of amending the law.

Sources in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told Dawn that the term of local governments in KP had expired on Aug 28 this year and new elections were supposed to be held by Dec 27, but this had now become virtually impossible.

An official of the commission said that under Section 219 (4) of the KP’s Local Government Act, 2017, the ECP had to conduct elections within 120 days after the expiry of the local bodies term, but it was still awaiting information from the government — a prerequisite for delimitation. He said these included official notifications of the proposed number of village and neighbourhood councils in each tehsil, and the limits of tehsil councils, along with category-wise number of reserved seats.

He said that around three months would be required for delimitation even after these issues were addressed while another around 45 days would be needed between announcement of the poll schedule and the poll date.

The official pointed out that the ECP called the first meeting with representatives of the KP government on March 5 — almost six months before the expiry of local bodies term in the province, and directed completion of all prerequisites for conduct of LG elections.

The commission specifically directed that whatever amendments required to be made in the act and rules be made as early as possible. Otherwise, the ECP shall not wait for the amendments and conduct the polls in accordance with the existing law.

The provincial government was asked to expedite the passage of the proposed bills before April 30 this year so that the ECP could go ahead with its duties. The KP government was also asked to prepare updated district maps to be used for delimitation.

The official said the second meeting with the provincial government was held on April 9. The ECP secretary reiterated that the commission would not deviate from the timelines provided by the law. The provincial government was again asked to take steps to get the law passed from the KP Assembly.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2019