By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi has refused to give nod to an amendment bill raising the number of union councils in the limits of the federal capital Islamabad, saying the move would further delay the local government(LG) elections in the capital.
The move followed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) refusal to the Islamabad High Court orders to hold LG elections in the capital city on 31 December, triggering a fresh round of litigation between the government and the ECP on one side and the PTI on the other. The President, in a statement released by the President Secretariat on Sunday, returned unsigned the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The amendments proposed the number of union councils in the Islamabad Capital Territory be increased from existing 101 to 125. The proposed amendment also allows for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Islamabad to be elected directly as joint candidates by the voters.
The bill was passed by the lower house of the parliament; the national assembly on December 22 and the Senate the following day (December 23), requiring only the President’s assent for the bill to be signed into law. The President, according to the statement, returned the bill by observing that it would further delay the local government elections. The statement further said that the actions of the federal government taken in a hurry resulted in delaying the election process twice, which, it added, was anathema to democracy. The statement lamented that elections could not be held in Islamabad Capital Territory due to the “malafide actions” of the federal government.
President Alvi further stated that after the process for the delimitation of 50 union councils completed, the ECP announced elections of LG in tghe Islamabad Capital Territory on July 31, 2022. “Despite the announcement of polling date, the federal government increased the number of union councils from 50 to 101, resulting in the postponement of elections,” the President added.
Islamabad UCs
The President further observed that after the demarcation of 101 Union Councils, the ECP decided to hold elections in the ICT on December 31, 2022. “Section 2 of the current Bill provides for 125 Union Councils in the ICT. Therefore, elections scheduled for 31st December 2022 have been again postponed.” He was of the view that as per the proposed bill, mode of elections of the mayor and deputy mayor has been changed even after schedule of LG elections was announced.
Litigation involving ICT LG polls
In the latest row, the PML-N-led federal government challenged the “hasty” decision of the Islamabad High Court, On the other hand, the ECP explained in writing to the court reasons for its inability to hold the polls on Saturday. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, meanwhile, sought contempt proceedings against both the government and the ECP.
