ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) again urged the federal and provincial governments for removal of the constitutional and legal complexities in the way of local government elections as soon as possible, enabling the Commission to ensure timely conduct of local government polls and fulfill its constitutional responsibility.
An important meeting of the ECP was held here regarding the conduct of local body elections in the provinces, which was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. Apart from the members of the ECP, the meeting was also attended by senior officers of the Election Commission and officers of relevant departments.
The ECP was briefed on the arrangements made so far for holding local body elections in the four provinces. The forum was told that despite repeated warnings from the Election Commission, the Punjab Local Government Election Rules have not yet been published by the Punjab government. Hence, there are difficulties in holding elections.
Likewise, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has not provided the boundaries of city local councils, number of village and neighborhood councils and number of category wise seats for seven divisional headquarters due to which delimitation work has not been started in these districts yet.
Similarly, despite the reminders of the Election Commission, some provisions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government (Amendment) Act 2019 have not been enacted yet. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Council Rules have not yet been published.
The Sindh government was written on the documents related to revenue limits of maps and other required data, which had not yet been received in all the districts. This may cause difficulty in completing the zoning work.
In Balochistan province, the work of delimitation was stopped under the order of Balochistan High Court. However, the Election Commission issued orders to its office to call on the provincial government to make necessary legislation on the provisions of Balochistan Local Government Act 2010 and Rules, which are in conflict with Election Act 2017 so that the obstacles in the elections in the province could be removed timely.
The meeting was informed that completion
of constituencies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was underway and final lists of constituencies will be published on October 25, 2020 for public inspection.
Moreover, suggestions have been sought from the provincial election commissioners regarding the appointment of District Returning Officers, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers in order to facilitate the Returning Officers in completing their work.
Necessary steps have been taken to procure election material in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while an initial meeting has also been held with the concerned agencies regarding the procurement of election materials.
The schedule of constituencies for holding elections in Sindh province has been notified. The ECP has expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made so far for holding the elections.
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