Islamabad ( Web News )
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has made it clear that if the provincial government of Punjab fails to legislate in time, the Commission will independently make a decision and ensure the conduct of local government elections. According to a statement issued by the Election Commission, a hearing was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, regarding the repeated delays in local government elections in Punjab.
During the hearing, the Election Commission made it clear that if the provincial government does not legislate in a timely manner, the Commission will issue its own decision and ensure the elections are held in the province. According to the statement, the Secretary of the Election Commission gave a detailed briefing during the hearing.
The Secretary stated that despite delays by all provincial governments, the ECP’s consistent efforts ensured that elections were held on time in Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He further informed that the legal term of the local governments in Punjab ended on December 31, 2021, but instead of holding elections, the provincial government kept amending local government laws to avoid conducting them.
Since 2019, there have been five amendments to Punjab’s local government laws, and a sixth legislative draft is currently under consideration. The statement added that the ECP has completed the delimitation process three times, and on the fourth occasion, it was suspended at the request of the provincial government.
At this point, Special Secretary of the Election Commission Muhammad Arshad emphasized that the legislative process should be completed immediately and that the draft rules should be submitted to the ECP for feedback to avoid further delays in elections. He also stated that timely legislation is imperative in light of constitutional requirements, as the ECP is constitutionally and legally bound to conduct local government elections in the province.
Chief Election Commissioner further warned that if the provincial government continues to avoid legislating, the Commission will issue a formal order in the next hearing.
The Punjab Minister for Local Government, present during the hearing, stated that the draft of the local government law is currently under review by the assembly’s standing committee and progress is expected soon. However, the Commission remarked that more than three months have already passed, whereas typically it takes about two months for a bill to be approved.
Chief Election Commissioner insisted that local government elections have already been held in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, so why is the process still on hold in Punjab? The Commission adjourned the matter until the next scheduled hearing, declaring that the Commission will issue its decision afterward and will not seek any further timelines from the Punjab government.