ISLAMABAD: Around two-and-a-half months after the resignation of the Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Anser Aziz, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday finally kicked off the drive to elect the new mayor, with the issuance of public notice by the Returning Officer (RO) regarding the election being held on December 28, the schedule of which was issued last week.
On October 1 this year, the mayor of Islamabad tendered his resignation. Under the law, the ECP was required to hold election on the vacant seat within 30 days from the date it was notified as vacant. However, the ECP issued election schedule for mayor Islamabad's election only on December 4, over two months after the mayor's seat fall vacant.
Section 31 of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2015 reads , "If the office of a mayor, deputy mayor, chairman or vice chairman, or a member indirectly elected on a reserved seat, for any reason, falls vacant during the term of office of a local government, the new mayor, deputy mayor, chairman, vice chairman or member shall be elected in the prescribed manner within thirty days from the date when such vacancy is notified and he shall, subject to this Act, hold office for the remaining term of the local government."
In the light of Section 33 (1) and (2) of Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2015, the resignation of the mayor stands accepted and becomes effective forthwith after it is tendered.
This section reads "(1) A mayor, deputy mayor, chairman, vice chairman or a member may resign his office by tendering resignation in writing under his hand to the local government of which he is the mayor, deputy mayor, chairman, vice chairman or a member.
(2) The resignation tendered under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have been accepted and effective forthwith and the local government shall forward copies of the resignation to the Election Commission and the government."
Mayor's resignation is notified by the (federal) government. Section 36 (2) (b) reads, "The government shall notify - (b) election, appointment or vacation office, owing to any cause, of the mayor, deputy mayor, chairman or vice chairman."
Sources in ECP said that the electoral body sought the input from Ministry of Law and Justice, and Ministry of Interior after the mayor's office fell vacant but they did not respond. However, on December 1, finally, the officials of both the ministries informed the ECP, in a top- level meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, that the ECP had final say in deciding about mayor's election following which the ECP issued the schedule for mayor election on December 4.
The term of local bodies in Islamabad is five years that started since the local bodies held their first official meeting.
Section 29 (1) of Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act reads, "-the term of office of a local government shall be five years commencing on the date on which it holds its first meeting."
The first meeting of Municipal Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) was held on February 15, 2016, which elected Anser as first mayor of Islamabad before he stepped down on October 1, this year, due to his differences with federal government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020