PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has strongly condemned the postponement of the second phase of local government elections in the province and termed the move “anti-democratic”, and announced to challenge high court decision in Supreme Court.
JI Provincial Ameer Senator Mushtaq while addressing a news conference in Timergara warned to challenge the judgment of the High court in the Supreme Court as he claimed that there used to be no snowfall in these areas on 27 March and the weather is very conducive for the elections.
Senator Mushtaq Ahmad alleged that the government is trying to escape from the election after their defeat in the first phase of the local government election in December, last year. “The government is hiding behind the courts to postpone the elections and escape from another defeat,” senator Mushtaq said.
JI provincial chief said that earlier elections were held in the country on December 7, 1970; March 7, 1977; February 25, 1985; February 3, 1997; and February 18, 2018.
Senator Mushtaq said that during those days, the conditions were even worse but the elections were never postponed. The JI leader said that they are going to challenge the high court judgment in the supreme court of Pakistan.
It is noted here that the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Abbottabad bench directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the Local Government elections in the remaining 18 districts of the province which were scheduled for March 27. The court has annulled the schedule for local government election in five districts of the Hazara division issued January 20.
Postponement of local government election has caused frustration among Lower Dir political parties and the local government election candidates.
The court had issued the judgment on two identical writ petitions submitted by residents of Hazara division – Malik Aurangzeb and Muhammad Iqbal. The petitioner argued that the people would be deprived to poll their votes due to snow and inclement weather conditions in March.
The five districts in which the elections were postponed include Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torrghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai Palas, Kohistan, Swat, Malakand, Shangla, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Chitral, Upper and Lower Karam and Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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