LG polls: ECP holds govts responsible for delay in delimitation of constituencies

ISLAMABAD: Despite reiterating many times to hold local government (LG) elections across the country, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now facing problems related to preparations for the LG polls in all the provinces, and is holding the federal and provincial governments responsible for delay in the delimitation of constituencies.

On Wednesday, the ECP said it was still awaiting the report from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) and the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) regarding coronavirus situation in the country, in order to hold the LG elections across the country.

In a top-level ECP meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, the commission reviewed the LG elections preparations in all the four provinces.

According to a press release, the meeting was briefed that the ECP had sought from the NHSRC Ministry and the NCOC, a detailed report, on coronavirus situation, in order to decide on holding the LG elections, keeping in view, the said report but it was yet to be provided to the ECP.

In Punjab, on September 18, 2020, the ECP once again revised the date for publication of preliminary list of delimited constituencies in Punjab, which was to be done on September 18, and extended this date for “another 15 days,” but did not fix a specific date for this purpose.

The decision was taken on the request of the Punjab government, on the grounds that the provincial cabinet needed to accord approval for naming the village, punchayat and neighbourhood councils, the ECP statement said, adding that the Commission extended the said date from September 18 for another 15 days.

Earlier on August 18, 2020, the ECP revised the date for publication of preliminary list of delimited constituencies, for inviting representations and objections, from August 21 to September 18, 2020.

The decision, the ECP said then, was taken in the backdrop of inclusion of certain rural areas into urban areas by the Punjab government.

On August 5, the ECP said it asked the Punjab government to suggest a date for holding the LG elections and whether the provincial government wanted the elections in one-day or in a phase-wise manner.

The provincial government had sought time and informed the Commission that it would share with the ECP a “comprehensive set of recommendations” on LG elections in Punjab, in the next few days.

However, till date, neither the ECP nor the Punjab government has come up with any date for holding the LG polls in Pakistan’s largest province.

In Sindh, on September 15, the ECP announced to accept the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Sindh government’s demand, and directed the federal government authorities to take steps for officially notifying the results of population census, 2017.

On August 31, the ECP issued the schedule for the delimitation of constituencies ahead of the LG elections in Sindh but the PPP and Sindh government rejected the ECP’s delimitation plan.

The PPP leaders and Sindh government officials were of the view that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) did not officially notify the results of population census carried out in 2017 and, therefore, keeping in view the relevant constitutional provisions, the ECP cannot hold LG elections in Sindh on unofficial census data.

The ECP on Wednesday said it had repeatedly written to the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to have the results of population census 2017 officially notified but it has not been done so far.

In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the ECP said, it issued the preliminary list of delimited constituencies on September 19 but the number of tehsil, village and neighbourhood councils in seven divisional headquarters of the KP has not been notified yet by the KP government due to which, the Commission said, the delimitation exercise in these seven divisional headquarters has been delayed.

In Balochistan, the delimitation of constituencies for LG polls was scheduled on January 17-March 30, 2019, and the Commission rejected the request of the provincial government to give it more time to bring reforms in Local Government Act but a petition was moved in Balochistan High Court (BHC) challenging the population data in the province.

The BHC suspended the ECP’s delimitation schedule, and the matter is pending in the court since then.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020