ISLAMABAD: Odds for holding the first ever local government (LG) elections in the capital just increased after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) displayed a draft for the delimitation of union councils on Monday.

Local government polls in Islamabad are scheduled to be held on November 30.

The draft for delimitation of 50 union councils in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) for local bodies elections has been displayed in the office of the delimitation officer, Chaudhry Aleem, in F-8 Markaz. An earlier version of the draft contained 79 union councils.

The last date of filing objections on the delimitation draft is October 5, and these objections will be decided by October 10. Final delimitations will be notified by the ECP on October 13.

LG elections in Islamabad are scheduled to be held on November 30

The issue of delimitations arose after a number of senators objected to the LG polls schedule on grounds that the ECP was holding elections without any laws.

In mid-July 2015, the Supreme Court rejected the July 25 schedule of holding local government elections in Islamabad. Then, the bill to hold the polls was passed by the National Assembly on July 29, along with proposed amendments by the Senate, and presidential ascent was granted in the first week of August.

The ECP filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking minor changes to the schedule for the elections. The commission wanted the polls on November 30 and said delimitation of constituencies was necessary as many voters would otherwise be deprived of their voting rights.

The ECP has said the process of delimitation of constituencies would be completed on October 13 after which the process of making new voters’ lists will commence.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry, too has had its way and managed to reduce the number of union councils from 79 to 50 as two sensitive sectors were excluded from the jurisdiction of the Islamabad metropolitan corporation.

The two sectors are E-8 and E-9 which house Naval Complex and Pakistan Air Force Headquarters, respectively and these are likely to be declared as cantonment areas of Islamabad.

If everything goes on smoothly, the residents of Islamabad can expect their first local government polls on November 30 this year.

The last local government elections in Islamabad were held in 1992 under the Federal Capital Local Government Ordinance 1979, but those were held only in 12 rural union councils in the peripheries of Islamabad. The urban areas managed by the CDA never witnessed any grassroot level democracy.

Published in Dawn September 29th, 2015

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