ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday postponed local government elections in the federal capital territory for second time. The polls were scheduled for December 31.
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On December 20, it may be recalled, it was none other than the ECP itself which had served a blow to Pakistan Muslim League-led federal government and had announced that local government (LG) elections would be held in the federal capital as per schedule, i.e. Dec 31.
A five-member commission on Tuesday chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner announced the judgement of delaying LG elections in Islamabad.
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In a short order released to media, the ECP said “keeping in view the legal provisions & the judgement of the Hon’ble High Court, Islamabad dated 23/12/2022 regarding the subject matter. Local Government Election in ICT scheduled to be held on 31/12/2022 is hereby postponed for the time being.
Earlier, today’s ECP hearing revolved around the federal government’s decision to increase the number of Union Councils in the federal capital territory. Advocate General Jahangir Jadoon and former Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf, while Babar Awan and Ali Nawaz Awan from PTI and Mian Aslam from Jamaat-e-Islami appeared before the Election Commission.
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During the course of ECP proceedings, Former Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf said argued that the Islamabad High Court had given a decision regarding LG elections. The Islamabad administration recommended increasing the number of Union Councils, increasing the number of USCs due to the increase in the population of Islamabad.
Member ECP Ikaramullah asked whether a census was conducted in this regard, to which the former Attorney General replied that the Statistical Institute reported an increase in the population of Islamabad, therefore the ECP should look into the issue of population growth as Islamabad High Court also recognized the increase in population.
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Ashtar Ausaf argued that the Islamabad High Court had given the authority to the ECP to take the final decision. He said in the past, even after the schedule was released, the elections were postponed. The Election Commission has to decide according to the constitution and law, he said, adding that the ECP should redistribute constituencies in Islamabad according to the new law.
Election Commission member Nisar Durrani said that section 4 of the Act should also be read and explained.
The former attorney general replied that it is the authority of the federal government to demarcate union councils, to which member Nisar Durrani said that the number of union councils was increased to 101 in June.
Member Ikramullah Khan said that we also have the record of NADRA, according to our record the population of Islamabad has not increased so much.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that every other day the governments postpone LG by amending the Election Act. Ashtar Ausaf requested ECP to conduct LG elections in Islamabad based on 125 union councils.
