ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) request for not holding the local government elections in the Punjab and Sindh this year.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-member bench, told ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed: “So far we have not received any application against our order dated October 25, 2013, but even if it is filed we are not going to accommodate you.”
Attorney General Munir A Malik, on behalf of the ECP secretary, informed that the local government (LG) polls in the Balochistan would be held on December 7, 2013, but as far as the elections in the Punjab and Sindh are concerned the logistics not lie with the ECP but with the Printing Corporation of Pakistan instead.
In the last hearing, Punjab and Balochistan governments informed that all the formalities regarding holding LG polls is complete and they were ready to hold elections on December 7 (Balochistan) and November 27 (Sindh).
The chief justice stated that under Article 218 of the constitution, the ECP was bound to hold the elections. This Article says; “It shall be the duty of the election commission to organise and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against.”
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked: If the ECP was facing the issue of non-availability of ink or paper then should the apex court provide these things to the commission? The chief justice said the ECP was so weak that it could not take action against the authorities that are not cooperating with it. He said Article 220 is clear, which says, “It shall be the duty of all executive authorities in the federation and in the provinces to assist the commissioner and the election commission in the discharge of his or their functions.”
The chief justice praised the provinces for preparing the laws for local government and showing readiness for the LG polls, regretting that now the ECP was not willing to hold the elections. The ECP secretary contended that the delimitation in Sindh and Punjab was not complete.
However, Additional Advocate General Hanif Khattana told the court that last week they had provided the preliminary list of the delimitation of Punjab to ECP Lahore Office and today (Monday) provided the final notification of delimitation to ECP.
The attorney general also told that after the October 25 court order, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) local government law has been finalised and was pending prime minister’s approval. He said the law through Ordinance could not be made as the Senate and the National Assembly sessions have started.
About the LG polls in the Cantonment areas, the AG told that the defence secretary had written to the prime minister as though the committee, constituted to amend the LG polls in Cantoments, had approved the draft but General Services Headquarters (GHQ) had not provided its input yet. The court was also told that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also legislated the local government law. The hearing was adjourned until today (Wednesday).