he Election Commission of Pakistan failed last week to hold polling as originally scheduled on Saturday for local government elections in Islamabad after an order to the effect was issued by the Islamabad High Court on Friday.

Expressing his annoyance, Muhammad Bashir, an elderly resident of Ali Pur who runs a food stall in the area says, “I am extremely unhappy with this situation. A functional local government system is needed for effective decision-making.”

“In the absence of a local government, who will address the basic needs of the people and make decisions for their welfare?” asks Bashir.

The confusion surrounding the local government elections worsened when elections, due to take place on December 31, were postponed yet again.

According to the ECP, the postponement came as a result of the federal government’s decision to increase the number of union councils from the current 101 to 125 on December 19. Initially, the ECP opposed the move. However, it later came around and agreed to postpone the elections.

Alleging that this was part of an elaborate ploy by the government and its allies to influence the polls, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) challenged the decision to delay the polls before the IHC.

A litany of baffling developments later, the IHC directed the ECP to hold elections as scheduled. The ECP refused, contending that the necessary arrangements could not be made within the short time. According to the commission, it was an ‘impractical’ proposition. It said it needed more time to prepare for the polls. The electoral watchdog pointed out that it was impossible to manage the situation since the postponement had already been announced.

Many PTI and JI supporters said they were expecting the ECP to comply with court orders. Some went and stood in queues at designated polling stations but were disappointed.

Also, last week, President Arif Alvi refused to sign the law passed by the parliament for the purpose of changing the number of union councils, calling it ‘an anathema to democracy.’

So when are the local government elections happening? The matter will now be addressed by an IHC division bench that will also decide whether the elections will be held for 101 UCs as per the old law or on 125 UCs in keeping with the recent amendment.

A series of delays

Last year in March, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the government (then led by the PTI) to hold timely elections. As a result, the local government elections were slated to be held in May 2022 after the delimitation process concluded.

The then-ruling PTI had wanted to hold the local body polls in the ICT under the Local Government Ordinance 2021 but the IHC dismissed the law in March, a few weeks before the PTI regime was ousted through a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.

The government had failed to get the ordinance approved by the parliament. The ordinance was promulgated by the president in November 2021 and had expired after 120 days in February 2022.

In its detailed judgement issued in March, the IHC declared the LG Ordinance 2021 introduced by the PTI-led government invalid and directed the ECP to hold elections under the Local Government Act of 2015.

The court at that time also observed that the PTI government had used various tactics to delay the local government elections in the federal capital. It observed that the federal government had not assisted the ECP in performing its statutory duties including the provision of maps and notification for delimitation.

It is pertinent to mention here that the term of the previous local government in Islamabad had expired back on February 14, 2021. The capital city has been without a local government or a mayor for almost two years now.

The history of local government elections in Pakistan has been chequered with frequent delays. The last round of successful local government elections was held in 2015 under a PML-N government.

Voter woes

The voters are unsurprised. For them, this is a recap of last year’s episode, except that the stakeholders have swapped sides. Instead of the PTI being accused of using delay tactics, now the PDM is under fire for not allowing the polls to go ahead.

Many PTI voters say they doubt the government’s intentions. “I think the present regime is afraid of losing these polls. That is why they decided to postpone these elections a couple of days before the showdown,” says Bashir, a staunch PTI supporter.

Some PTI sympathisers are also alleging that the government is proposing an increase in the number of Union Councils to split the PTI vote bank. PML-N workers deny this and insist that their party will win regardless of when the elections are held.

Local governments are meant to manage public services like sanitation, health and water supply among others.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillani@gmail.com