PHC stays local govt elections in KP

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday stayed the upcoming local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa till the next order.

A division bench comprising Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah issued the stay order, directing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through secretary local government and Election Commission of Pakistan to submit comments before the next hearing. The court issued the stay order in a writ petition filed by Masoodur Rehman, a resident of Haripur district, through his lawyer Sajadur Rehman. During hearing, the lawyer contended that a few days ago, the local governments have been dissolved after completion of its four years tenure.

The lawyer pointed out that under the Election Act 2017, the Election Commission of Pakistan is bound to conduct new local bodies’ elections within 120 days across the province. Recently, he said, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had brought amendments to the Local Government Act 2013. He pointed out that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly through KP LG (Amendment) Act, 2019 has brought drastic changes to the LG Act 2013. Through the amendment, he explained, the provincial government abolished the district tier of the LG system. He argued that the new system consists of tehsil as well as village and neighbourhood councils after the abolition of the district councils.

However, after the drastic changes in the LG system, the provincial government has not carried out the delimitation process to divide the districts into tehsils under the new LG Act for the elections. He stated that the government had so far only divided Peshawar in five tehsils and no such arrangements have been done in other districts of the province. He submitted that the process of delimitation under the LG Act would take some time and it was impossible for the ECP to make arrangements and hold the elections within 120 days.

The lawyer further stated that election was also not possible in the month of December in winter season in hilly areas due to heavy snowfall as routes were almost closed. He also submitted that the KP Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2019, provides for completing the required administrative actions within six months. The petitioner requested the court to declare that the initiation of electoral process for local bodies before the expiry of the mandatory time period was illegal. He requested the court to direct the respondents including Election Commission of Pakistan and KP government to hold elections in accordance with KP Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2019, only after completion of requirement of Local Government Act, 2013. About two days ago, JUI-F member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Mahmood Ahmad Khan Bhittani, moved the Peshawar High Court, seeking orders for extending the local bodies elections in the province beyond the 120 days’ timeframe stipulated in the Elections Act, 2017. He claimed that the delimitation process has yet to be initiated for holding the elections under the LG System in the province.