ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad local government bill, moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, on Wednesday was deferred by the leader of the opposition who said he wanted to work on building consensus over the bill.

Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah said the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill 2014 should be passed unanimously by the house and so voting should be deferred.

The urban residents of Islamabad have never had the right of local representation as the local bodies elections have never been held.

The area for Islamabad was acquired in 1960 from the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakthunkhwa. Until 1981, the federal capital was part of the Rawalpindi district. In 1981, Islamabad got the status of a district, and its own head of police and district management.

The rural areas of Islamabad were handed over to the Islamabad Capital Territory administration (ICT). The Capital Development Authority (CDA) was given authority to manage the affairs of urban areas of Islamabad.

While union councils existed in the rural areas of the capital, the Ziaul Haq regime did not hold union council elections in Islamabad as it did not want political activity in the federal capital.

During Pervez Musharraf era, the interior ministry proposed to divide Islamabad into 40 union councils - 26 urban and 14 rural - so that elections could be held.

Leader of opposition says the bill should be passed unanimously

However, this could not be implemented and Islamabad was once again deprived of local representation.

In October 2012, Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi ordered to hold local bodies elections within six months in the federal capital. This verdict stirred debate over the capital’s local government system.

The bill, moved by the parliamentary affairs minister, was recommended by the Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control.

According to the draft bill, available with Dawn, two bodies i.e. Metropolitan Corporation and Union Councils (UCs) will be formed in the federal capital.

The Metropolitan Corporation shall consist of a mayor, deputy mayor, chairmen of all UCs, women members, peasants/workers, technocrats, youth members and non-Muslims.

A union council shall consist of a chairman, vice chairman, six general members, two women, one peasant/worker, one youth member and one non-Muslim member, in case there are at least 200 non-Muslim voters registered in the UC.

According to the draft bill, a person may be elected to the local government in the capital if he is a citizen of Pakistan, at least 25 years of age except for youth members and enrolled in the UC’s voter list.

Members would be disqualified if they cease to be citizens of Pakistan, acquire citizenship of another state or take up service in the government of Pakistan.

A person suspended from government service because of misconduct cannot contest election unless a period of five years has lapsed since his dismissal.

The local government’s term in office will be five years, counting from the day on which it hold its first meeting, which must be held within 30 days of the members being notified.

Published in Dawn March 19th , 2015

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