ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday warned that the conduct of general elections scheduled in 2023 could face problems and local government (LG) as well as cantonment boards (CBs) elections could also face inordinate delay if the results of census 2017 are not officially notified in time.
He made these remarks while presiding over a top-level meeting attended by ECP secretary Dr Akhtar Nazir, federal secretary Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Malik Ghauri, federal secretary Law and Justice Raja Naeem Akbar and other senior government officials, Business Recorder has learnt.
During the meeting, the CEC voiced serious concern over continued delay on part of federal government to notify census results and warned that holding general polls in 2023 could be marked with difficulties if census results are not officially notified, it is learnt.
In addition, the CEC also said LG elections in the provinces and CBs can face indefinite delay due to non-notification of census results, it is further learnt. The ECP is constitutionally bound to hold LG elections within 120 days after the expiry of the related LG governments' tenure, ECP sources quoted the CEC as having said in the meeting.
According to sources, the CEC said ECP had asked the Sindh government to provide related data including maps for delimitation of constituencies ahead of LG elections but the provincial government regretted to provide the required information on the grounds that ECP is not empowered to carry out constituencies' delimitation exercise on provisional census results.
Moreover, the CEC also mentioned that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) moved a petition in Sindh High Court that ECP be stopped from holding LG elections unless the census results are officially notified. The SHC has directed the ECP to write to relevant federal government authorities for notifying the census results at the earliest.
"...It seems the federal government is totally oblivious of the repercussions the delay in notifying the census results can cause on the entire electoral process," CEC reportedly said in the meeting.
Secretary parliamentary affairs briefed the meeting that he took up the issue of pending census results with Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), sources said. The PBS, according to the secretary, informed him that the matter is pending with ministers' committee that was formed by federal cabinet for notifying census results.
The committee held six meetings on the matter, out of which, the minutes of three meetings have been issued and the minutes of remaining three meetings are being prepared, secretary said adding that the Ministers Committee has yet not finalised its recommendations on notifying the census results. As soon as the recommendations are finalised, they would be submitted to the federal cabinet for its approval and then sent to Council of Common Interests (CCI) for final approval to notify the census results, the secretary was said to have briefed the committee.
The officials of Law Division and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry informed the meeting that Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, who is the chairman of the ministers' committee, has been repeatedly reminded to notify census results. The ECP directed secretary parliamentary affairs and secretary law and justice to take up the matter with relevant ministers to get the census results notified at the earliest, it is further learnt.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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