ISLAMABAD: Local government elections in Punjab and Sindh are unlikely to be held in 2014, sources in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told Dawn.

An ECP official said the Supreme Court in its recent judgements empowered the commission to carry out delimitation exercise in Punjab and Sindh, but gave only 45 days for completing the gigantic task. On the other hand, the governments of Punjab and Sindh were given five months for finalising local government laws.

He said the commission would soon file a petition with the Supreme Court and ask it to curtail the time given to the two governments for legislation and increase the time for carrying out delimitation.

He said the delimitation exercise would require around six months while local government laws of the two provinces were almost ready and needed few amendments which could be passed in weeks if not in days.

He said the provinces were to finalise local government laws by Aug 19 and the leftover period of less than three months prior to Nov 15 — the deadline set for holding the polls — would be insufficient for getting 300 million ballot papers for Punjab printed. “Carrying out delimitation followed by arrangements for polls, including tendering for purchasing paper and magnetic ink, printing of ballot papers and their transportation down to the polling stations would also require ample time.”

The official pointed out that after the completion of delimitation exercise, the National Database and Registration Authority would be required to adjust the electoral rolls to bring it in conformity with the blocks defined in the delimitation, which may also take months.

If the judgement of the Supreme Court continued to hold the field, the LG polls in Punjab and Sindh in 2014 would remain under the shadow of doubt, he said. He said the Printing Corporation of Pakistan had informed the commission last year that it would need about four months for printing ballot papers for Punjab.