ISLAMABAD: After failing for over two years to hold local government elections in Punjab, the country’s largest province, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finally decided to hold the LG polls in the province, directing the provincial authorities to fulfil the related requirements in this regard.
The decision was taken in a meeting between the ECP management and top officials concerned in Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to review the scenario related to LG elections in Punjab, besides reviewing the delimitation drive for LG polls in ICT.
Punjab and ICT authorities respectively informed the meeting that delimitation for LG elections was already done in the province, whereas the related delimitation drive was under way in the federal capital—to be completed by July 23.
Other legal and constitutional requirements for holding the LG polls in Punjab and ICT are being fulfilled, the meeting was informed.
Presently, the local bodies are functional in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, whereas the ECP failed to hold the LG elections in ICT and Punjab within the 120-day stipulated period upon the expiry of their respective terms under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act 2017.
This law provides that the ECP shall hold LG elections within 120 days of the expiry of local bodies’ term of a province, cantonment or the ICT.
The ICT local bodies’ term expired on February 14, 2021 and that of Punjab expired on December 31, 2021.
Section 219(3) of the Elections Act 2017 provides that the ECP shall, in consultation with the federal or provincial government concerned, make an announcement of the date or dates on which LG elections in a province, cantonment or ICT are to be held.
This May 31, after failing to hold the LG elections in Islamabad for over three years, the ECP finally announced to launch the drive to delimit the union councils of the federal capital from June 1 till July 23.
In December 2022, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja claimed at a public event that the ECP intended to launch pilot testing of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the general elections or LG polls - besides working on internet voting or i-voting for overseas Pakistanis, for which, the CEC said, funds were sought from the then federal government.
But, contrary to this claim, in July last year, the poll body refused to hold the LG elections in Punjab on EVMs and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis, deciding to ask the then provincial caretaker government to amend the related electoral rules —to allow the polls on the manual voting method. The LG elections have faced lingering delay on one pretext or another.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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