The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are passing the buck to each other for the delay in holding local bodies (LB) elections in KP. A spokesman for the KP referred to the formal announcement of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on the floor of the provincial assembly that the government was ready to hold local bodies' elections in April this year and KP Minister for Local Bodies, Inayat Ullah, also stated the arrangements were in place.
"We are ready to hold the LB' elections and now it is the task of the ECP to notify the elections' schedule in the province," the spokesman added. An official of the ECP said that the Commission had not received any formal request from the KP for a consultative meeting for the issuance of a schedule for LB elections. "If the province meets all the prerequisites like Local Bodies Act & Rules and Delimitation for holding local bodies' elections then it must share the information with us so that we could determine their preparedness," he added.
The spokesman for the KP government said that the provincial government had completed its delimitation exercise and would usher a new model of local bodies system in the country. Under this model, he said the devolution of administration along with financial powers to grass root level (village, Tehsil and district) would take place.
The official of the ECP said that in the past, the ECP rejected some clauses in LB rules passed by Balochistan and Sindh governments on the basis of their practicability. In this context, he said the Commission would thoroughly examine the KP LB Act before issuing the schedule of the elections.
The ECP official said the provincial government had approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan for an extension against the directive of apex court to hold LBs polls on February 28. The Commission requires at least two months for completing preparations for the elections which include printing of 100 million ballot papers (to take one month) and a consultative process with the province prior to announcing LBs elections schedule which also takes time, he added.
The ECP had not been informed whether the KP government was interested in using biometric system in LB elections or the conventional system. The Commission expects that holding LB elections in the KP would not be possible before May, the official hinted.