LG Ordinance challenged

LAHORE

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Q have moved separate petitions in the Lahore High Court challenging Punjab Local Government (amendment) Ordinance 2016 for being in violation of the Constitution. Both the opposition parties have questioned the two new amendments made to the ordinance through which process to elect chairman and vice-chairman of district council and municipal committee, mayors and deputy mayors of metropolitan corporations and municipal corporations had been changed from “secret ballot” to “by open division” and election of reserved seats has been substituted with nomination on the basis of proportional representation system of political parties’ list of candidates in order of priority, on the basis of total number of candidates of general seats secured by political party. Thus, it deprived the independently elected members the right to elect the members against the reserved seats.

PTI filed the petition through its leader Ishaq Khan Khaqwani while PML-Q through its information secretary Kamil Ali Agha. 

The parties also challenged the changed/reduced qualification criteria for the seats reserved for “Technocrats” as well as absence of any requisite technical expertise for the candidates and ‘unjustified’ enhanced number of the reserved seats for “Technocrats”, and “Youth Members”. The petitions said giving e retrospective effect to the amendments made to the PLGA Act 2013, after the announcement of the schedule of election is a sheer malafide on the part of the Punjab government. Article 226 of the Constitution specifically provides that all elections under the Constitution shall be held by secret ballot. Therefore, the election of the Local Government cannot be held by any other mode except the secret ballot, as the LG polls are also held under the Constitution, the petitions elaborate. 

The counsel said it was the constitutional mandate of the ECP to hold fair and transparent election to the local governments in terms of Articles 140A and 218(3) and 219(d) of the Constitution. 

The counsel further said the Lahore High Court and Supreme Court through a hierarchy of judgments had categorically held that the LG elections were conducted under the Constitution. Therefore, the provisions of the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 to the extent of substituting the mode of election for the seats of Mayors and Chairmen etc. from the “secret ballot” to “open division” are null and void being violative of the Constitutional provisions. 

The lawyer argued that secret ballot is a voting method to prevent attempts to influence the voter by intimidation. He said the secret ballot protects political privacy and curbs corruption to strength democratic process. He said by elimination of secret ballot the government wanted to punish those who vote "the wrong way" or reward those who vote "the right way" as per their wishes. Secret Ballot is a proper way of electing leadership whereas open division method is a vote for cash not vote for democracy, he added.

The counsel pleaded that the impugned amendments had been issued after the election schedule of the LG elections. However, he said, the government was illegally bent upon to give the amended provisions a retrospective effect and even requested the ECP to withdraw its schedule.

The lawyer has asked the court to set aside the impugned amendments and restrain the ECP from holding upcoming election for reserved seats as well as seats for mayors and deputy mayors, chairmen and vice-chairmen.