LAHORE: The schedule for local polls in Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab is likely to change again as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not sure whether the electoral exercise can be held on the due date of January 30 after the court decision annulling the delimitations.
Punjab Election Commissioner Mehboob Anwar has, however, directed the returning officers to continue the process for the polls under the schedule given on December 9.
“Rest assured, the local elections are not going to be held on January 30. The delay can be averted only if the Supreme Court overturns the Lahore High Court (LHC) orders against the delimitations,” a senior official of the ECP’s legal branch said yesterday.
The schedule was earlier changed when the LHC directed Punjab government to hold the elections on a party basis.
A full bench of the LHC on December 31 declared null and void the delimitations done by the district administration. It directed that the ECP should design constituencies anew for the local polls. But, the ECP is legally empowered only to demarcate boundaries for National and Provincial Assemblies as the Punjab Local Government Act of 2013 deprived it of the same job for local bodies, the ECP official says. The Punjab government defends its decision of authorising the district administration for delimitation work under the 2013 Act, claiming it made the law after the ECP expressed its inability to accomplish the task.
The ECP official admits that given the present time frame for the polls and strength of the body, it is almost impossible to complete delimitations within days.
INTERNEWS
