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| July 10, 2005 | Sunday | Jumadi-us-Sani 2, 1426 |
LB polls: legislators’ dilemma
PESHAWAR, July 9: A serious contradiction between the code of conduct and Local Government Ordinance relating to the non-political nature of local bodies polls may either cause disqualification of national and provincial legislators or land them in trouble for making false declaration. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar said at a news conference in Islamabad on June 30 that the Local Government Ordinance allowed cabinet ministers and members of the national and provincial assemblies to contest the local body elections but they would have to resign their present seats if elected.
Section 153 of the Local Government Ordinance, 2001, states that local body elections will be held on non-party basis and candidates will be required to submit an affidavit to the Election Commission to the effect that they have no affiliation with any political party.
This provision alone is loaded with risks for members of national and provincial assemblies who have been elected on party ticket.
Legal experts say that these members would either have to quit the membership of their parties to be able to contest the election or make a false declaration about their political affiliation.
In both cases, the elected representatives run the risk of losing their seats in the national and provincial assemblies or face the prospect of being barred from contesting the elections for having made a false declaration.
According to Article 63 (A) of the Constitution, “if a member of a parliamentary party composed of a single political party in a house, resigns from membership of his political party .., he may be declared in writing by the Head of the Parliamentary Party to have defected from the political party, and the Head of the Parliamentary Party may forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer..”
Legal experts say that even if the head of a parliamentary party chooses to look the other way while his members opt to contest the local bodies elections without resigning from the party membership, the disqualification clause could be invoked against them for making a false statement before the Election Commission that they don’t belong to any political party.
“Even if the heads of the parliamentary parties acquiesce with their members who decide to contest the local bodies elections, their opponents could raise objections and seek their disqualification”, said one legal expert.
It is precisely this fear that is lurking in the minds of many legislators who want to contest the local bodies elections to become district nazims.
The matter was also raised this week by a member in the NWFP Assembly. Significantly, even the Election Commission of Pakistan was found to be lacking an answer when this correspondent approached it for comments. “Frankly, we have no answer. Nobody appears to have paid attention to it. This is a serious problem and the point is valid”, said an official.
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