LB polls in doubt despite announcement of schedule

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to file a review petition with the Supreme Court in a day or two, praying that the local bodies (LB) elections are not possible in the given situation, as among other factors, both Sindh and the Punjab were not ready for the mega exercise.

The commission made this decision after the apex court registrar rejected a miscellaneous application. The registrar contended that the Supreme Court had already given a decision on November 5.

To add to its predicament, the Ministry of Finance has also outright declined to provide Rs6.6 billion as demanded by the Election Commission for the conduct of the electoral exercise, the ECP sources told The News on Tuesday. The ministry has said that Rs3.6 billion could be released now while the remaining amount would be released in the next three months.

The governments of Sindh and the Punjab have intimated the Election Commission that they needed more time to carry out the poll-related activities, including reconciliation of voters lists with census blocks, training of polling staff, etc.The Punjab requires time also to frame rules to hold the local bodies elections on party basis, as directed by the Lahore High Court.

Both the Printing Corporation of Pakistan and Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research have already conveyed their inability to prepare over 50 million ballot papers and 2.4 million magnetised ink pads for the elections in a month. They informed the Election Commission that they needed four months to do the needful.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission extended the date for filing of nomination papers in Sindh and the Punjab to November 13. It is for the first time that the provinces, government departments, parliament, candidates, voters and even the Election Commission are not prepared for the local bodies elections. The Supreme Court has asked for the conduct of polls on December 7.

It is interesting to note that Balochistan and the Punjab had proposed December 7 for the polls while Sindh wanted the exercise to be conducted on November 27. But now both Sindh and the Punjab say they are not ready for the exercise. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is yet to join the race.The air is thick with confusion about the holding of local bodies’ elections despite the announcement of the schedule for the local bodies elections in the three provinces.

Talking to The News, Additional Secretary and DG Elections Syed Sher Afgan said the commission will implement the Supreme Court’s orders for the holding of local bodies elections but some legal and administrative problems were keeping them from going for the exercise.

He said an appeal will be filed with the Supreme Court after the Ashura. He said the ECP will place two options before the SC in its appeal and request to accept either of the two. The options are: accept the appeal against the registrar’s decision or review its November 05 decision.

Meanwhile, the ECP has extended the relaxation in date for submission of documents in the Punjab and Sindh to one day keeping in view the problems being faced by the contesting candidates. The relaxation in submission of documents had expired on Tuesday.