ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday notified the schedule for delimitation of constituencies for the local government elections in Islamabad.

According to the notification issued by the ECP, the preliminary list of union councils/wards will be prepared in 30 days from Nov 25 to Dec 24 and will be displayed on Dec 27.

The notification stated that from Dec 28 to Jan 11, voters could file objections before the delimitation authority, adding after completion of various stages, a final list of the constituencies will be published on Feb 3, 2022.

It is relevant to note that after pointing out the non-serious approach of the federal government in holding the local government elections in Islamabad, the ECP on Monday had stated that if the required data and notifications were not provided to the commission within 10 days for delimitation of new UCs, the commission shall initiate the delimitation process on the already notified UCs.

Preliminary list to be prepared in 30 days

The term of the local government in the capital expired in February this year and the ECP was supposed to hold the new elections within 120 days, but the elections could not be held on time.

The process of delimitation began but was halted in July when the interior ministry withdrew its notification regarding the UCs.

In August, the ministry stated that in view of the increase in population after the census results, the government intended to increase the number of UCs in the capital territory and spadework was underway to enact the new Local Government Act.

The government is yet to get the Act passed from parliament. In the last elections, Islamabad had 50 UCs and now the government wants to increase the number to 100.

A government official said a draft bill had been finalised and soon it would be presented before parliament for approval.

The first ever local government elections in Islamabad were held in November 2015 which were clinched by the then ruling party PML-N with majority.

Notifications regarding Sindh and Balochistan

The ECP notified a schedule to carry out delimitation of UCs, union committees/wards in each district of Sindh.

According to the ECP, from Dec16 to Jan 14, a preliminary list will be prepared which will be published on Jan 15 for inviting representation and objections. After completing other stages, the final list will be published on Feb 23, 2022.

Through another notification, the ECP withdrew an earlier issued notification dated 01-06-2021 regarding appointment of delimitation committees in respect of Sindh for conduct of the local government elections.

Meanwhile, the commission on Friday also issued a schedule to carry out delimitation of union councils/wards in Balochistan. According to a notification, from Dec 21 to Jan 19, a preliminary list of constituencies/wards will be prepared and after completing other procedures the final list will be published on Feb 28.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2021