ISLAMABAD: To be consistent with evolving laws, and to amend for its mistakes, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has withdrawn the schedule for local government elections in the federal capital, it announced on August 28.

An ECP official told Dawn that a fresh schedule will be announced around the middle of October but the polling date of November 30 will remain unchanged. He said the ECP was also awaiting the notified rules, under which elections are to be held.

This will be the third time the ECP will be setting a schedule for local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

No law existed for local government in Islamabad when the ECP, under judiciary’s pressure, announced on March 10, the holding of local government elections in the ICT, and its schedule on July 25. But the schedule had to be withdrawn as the two houses of parliament differed over legislation providing local government to Islamabad.

Ever since its establishment in the early 1960s, Pakistan’s federal capital has been run by the interior ministry, through the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Now the ECP had to withdraw even its new August 28 schedule because it was announced before starting the delimitation of constituencies in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) – which was a mistake.

While the ruling PML-N passed a bill in the National Assembly for party-less local government elections in the federal capital, the opposition-dominated Senate questioned issuance of the schedule and asserted its right to introduce amendments in the bill.

New schedule will be announced by mid October

Party-based election emerged as the most significant amendment passed by the Senate, and subsequently also by the National Assembly.

A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, agreed with the ECP’s wish to withdraw the August 28 schedule, noting that the Election Commission of Pakistan is a constitutional body and had the mandate to make its own decisions.

 An ECP official said the draft delimitation of constituencies was on display now and objections were being received. He said notification of the final delimitation will be issued on October 13 and the schedule for LG polls will be issued after that.

 Returning officers had been barred from making corrections, revisions and fresh registration in the electoral rolls in terms of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974, following the announcement of the schedule for LG polls on August 28.

As a result, genuine voters have been deprived of the right to change their votes from one ward to another, and those who would be eligible to get themselves registered as voters until the announcement of a schedule in mid October of their voting right.

The official pointed out that under Rule 11(2) of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Conduct of Elections) Rules 2015, the commission may, at any time before the date of polling, rescind or alter the election schedule and issue a revised schedule.

The last local government elections in Islamabad were held in 1992 under the Federal Capital Local Government Ordinance, 1979, but those were limited to the rural areas, consisting of 12 union councils on the periphery of Islamabad.

It would be for the first time that LG polls in both urban and rural areas of the Federal Capital will take place.

Published in Dawn, September 30th , 2015

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