ISLAMABAD: With the Supreme Court all set to take up the petition by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday for the early enactment a local government law, a local politician has also asked the court to not allow polls on July 25, without a law.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja will commence hearing on the ECP petition which asked the apex court to order the federal government to expedite the passage of the bill and the framing of rules so that the commission is able to hold elections.

Former PML-N Senator Zafar Ali Shah has also moved an independent petition before the Supreme Court suggesting that polling for local bodies should take place in September 2015. He requested that the court declare the actions taken by the ECP, according to the election schedule, null and void including the filing of the nomination papers if local government legislation is not enacted before July 25.

Meanwhile, Mr Shah also asked the court to order the ECP to issue a fresh election schedule for polls in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) in September at the same time as local government elections in Sindh and Punjab.

Zafar Ali Shah, who had been an MNA from Islamabad and served as chairman of the Coordination Committee under the Capital Territory Local Government Ordinance 1979, intends run for the office of the Mayor of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad.

He noted in his petition, that the interior ministry through a notification of April 27, 2015 had notified the local government Metropolitan Corporation by creating 79 union councils within the ICT.

The notification was issued under the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill 2015, which was still under discussion in the parliament. The ECP similarly appointed Aleem Shahab as the district returning officer, as well as other election staff.

Mr Shah further contended that the a number of citizens of the capital had also filed petitions before the Islamabad High Court, for party based local government elections, which were dismissed on the grounds that the matter is already before the apex court.

He pointed out that having the same political rights as citizens of other provinces with representation at the local level, is his fundamental right.

The earlier laws namely the Capital Territory Local Government Ordinance 1979 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Election Ordinance 2002 stand repealed by the federal government, the petitioner noted.

A decision to hold party based elections, the petition noted, would create confusion about the nomination papers already filed by the candidates before the ECP.

Moreover, he asked, whether the ECP, the Supreme Court or the parliament would provide legal cover to the local bodies elections of July 25, if the act passed by the parliament and the procedures of the local bodies election are in contradiction with one another.

Similarly, the petitioner said, that the bill is pending before the Senate and if amendments are suggested, it would be referred back to the lower house according to the rules and subsequently taken up in a joint session. However, this entire exercise is likely to take time and so polls should be rescheduled for September.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2015

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