Appoint CEC by October 28, Supreme Court tells government

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the government to appoint a permanent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by October 28, otherwise it would withdraw its judge who has been serving as acting CEC. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk resumed the hearing of a case pertaining to local government elections and delimitation of electoral constituencies.
During the course of proceedings, the court warned that it would withdraw Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who is presently acting as CEC, if the federal government failed to appoint a permanent CEC till October 28. Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Salman Aslam Butt assured the bench that the appointment of a permanent CEC would be made in the coming 30 to 35 days; upon which the court ordered that a permanent CEC should be appointed in two weeks.
The court while rejecting the response submitted by the Sindh government with regard to holding local bodies elections and delimitation of constituencies in the province, directed the provincial government to present the local bodies bill in the provincial assembly within two days otherwise, it would summon the Chief Minister Sindh. The court expressed annoyance over both provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab regarding their failure for not introducing the required legislations for LG polls in five months. The CJ remarked that both the provincial governments have not shown seriousness in the matter.
Advocate General Sindh Fateh Malik told the bench that the governor has shown reservations over the local bodies ordinance and had returned it without signing it; upon which the CJP asked why the government did not present the bill in the assembly, if the governor had returned the ordinance without signing it.
"It was mentioned in the court's judgement that the process of legislation should be completed within five months. You would still have been inactive if the SC had not issued a notice," the CJP observed. He further said that provincial governments are using different tactics to delay the process.
Additional Advocate General Punjab Razaq A. Mirza told the court that the provincial government cannot legislate until the federation legislate the matter. The court rejected his stance and directed the Punjab government to complete the legislation process within two days.
The court sought the schedule of LG elections from the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) till next Monday, and also made it clear that the court's judgement on delimitation does not apply into KP. Besides, directing Sindh and Punjab to complete the legislation process within two days, the court also directed the federal government to complete the legislation by the end of this week as well. The proceedings of the case were adjourned till Monday.