Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday said the federal government needs to be in a position to conduct local government elections in Islamabad, the country’s federal capital.
The Interior Minister said this after the Islamabad High Court’s directives to conduct LG polls tomorrow (December 31),
“We respect the court orders, but holding local body elections is impossible as the arrangements cannot be made in such a short period,” Rana Sanaullah said.
The minister added that as many as 1,000 polling stations needed security, election material still needs to be deployed at the polling stations, and the polling staff will also be needed. “This is not possible.”
Islamabad LG polls on Dec 31
The IHC had earlier ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold LG polls in Islamabad on December 31 after it accepted Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petitions seeking to nullify ECP’s decision to postpone the LG polls.
“The court directed government to provide all-out support to ECP for conducting the elections as mandated by the Constitution of Pakistan,” Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir said in his order.
The federal minister also added that since the “ground realities” do not allow the government to ensure holding the polls, the centre was going to file an intra-court appeal against the IHC order.
“The court order was issued in the evening after office hours. How is it possible to make the arrangements for the [elections]? What can be a stronger reason than this,” Sanaullah said when asked what his hopes were about the petition’s acceptance.
The minister said he was not surprised by the order but noted that directions should be “implementable” and the latest IHC order will ensure “that the elections do not take place”.
Sanaullah said a new schedule should be issued for the polls, and there is no other way to hold the elections as he ruled out assisting the election commission.
“It isn’t possible for the commission, and we cannot provide security in such a short period for 1,000 polling stations. Islamabad Police are not enough as we will need to deploy Rangers, and FC will have to be called in,” he added.
