ISLAMABAD: The much-delayed local government election in Islamabad on Tuesday saw another setback as the polling date was extended from September 29 to October 9.

Sensing something fishy, the PTI local chapter alleged that the government wanted to get a bill passed from parliament in coming days to make amendments to the Local Government Act 2015 and in that scenario new delimitations will have to be carried out.

However, PML-N said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) made the extension on the request of local politicians as they could not submit their nomination papers on time.

According to a notification issued by the ECP on Tuesday, the date for filing of nomination papers has been extended from Aug 16 to Aug 28 and after completing various steps such as scrutiny of the papers and filing appeals, polling will be held on October 9.

ECP says date for filing of nomination papers extended on request of political parties

The ECP through a statement said on the request of political parties and to ensure maximum participation by candidates and provide them facilities, the ECP decided to extend the nomination papers submission date, which was going to end on Wednesday, till August 28.

However, PTI local leader Sheraz Kiani said, “We have doubt on this move. It seems the government is planning to move a bill in National Assembly in coming days to amend the Local Government Act. Then, the government will call for the new delimitation of wards and union councils. That will result in cancellation of the election schedule.” He added that the government wanted to avoid the elections as it knew that the PTI will win the polls.

On the other hand, PML-N General Secretary from NA-47 Sardar Mahtab said his party will sweep the elections, adding PTI was facing shortage of candidates; therefore, they are leveling baseless allegations.

“On request of local politicians, the date for filing of nomination papers was extended and now polling will be held on October 9. This is a justified step by the ECP,” he said and added that the PML-N government was not avoiding the local government elections.

“The PTI enjoyed over 3.5 years of government but did not hold the elections. Our government will conduct the LG polls,” he said.

According to officials, one million voters would cast their votes to elect their representatives in the 125 union councils of Islamabad. The ECP has also barred executive authorities of the city from announcing any development project and using state resources to influence the elections in favour of a particular candidate. The ECP stated that after the issuance of the schedule, no transfer/posting of government officers and officials would be carried out without its prior approval.

However, despite issuing the schedule twice in recent years the ECP could not hold the elections in Islamabad even though the local government’s tenure ended in February 2021. The new election should have been held within six months.

The elections will be held under the Local Government Act 2015 on the basis of which the previous polls were held. Though members of the previous Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) on many occasions had criticised the Act for alleged loopholes, the PTI and PML-N governments could not make any changes to the law. In the last elections held in 2015, PML-N and PTI candidates gave tough time to each other.

The election was won by PML-N and Sheikh Anser Aziz was elected as the first mayor of Islamabad. However, the MCI failed to deliver as it could not get the patronage of the then ruling party, the PML-N. The MCI was neither given funds by the federal government nor were its financial rules finalised for proper disposal of works.

Later, the PTI came to power at the centre but it too did not pay any heed to the MCI. As a result, the first ever local government completed its tenure without even paying the due honorarium to the union council (UC) chairmen. On the last day in their office, the UC chairmen were seen trying to get their honorarium but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024