The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday directed the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh to complete the legislative process regarding Local Government (LG) Election till October 30.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nasirul Mulk comprising Justice Ameer Haani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Chaudhry also accepted a plea by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)government which sought a month’s time for preliminary preparations for conducting LG elections in the province, while hearing a suo motu case regarding LG elections in the country.
During the course of the proceedings, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Salman Aslam Butt informed the bench that the federal government had issued two ordinances – one regarding delimitation of constituencies and another regarding the preparation of voters’ lists.
He said that the prerogative of delimitation of electoral districts and voting areas would be transferred from the provincial governments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to enable it to carry out delimitation of constituencies for the LG polls.
Punjab AG Razzaq A Mirza apprised the apex court that an amendment bill for LG elections had been prepared which would be presented before the Punjab Assembly on October 20.
Sindh government’s counsel Mir Qasim also informed the bench that Sindh LG Amendment Bill 2014 had been prepared and would be tabled in the Sindh Assembly session on the same day.
As per the amendment, said Qasim, the name of Union Council–the basic unit of the LG polls – had been changed to Union Committee.
Meanwhile, ECP’s counsel Akram Sheikh pleaded in a separate application that after getting the power to carry out the delimitation, ECP would need at least six months to complete the whole process after which the commission would be able to conduct elections.
The bench remarked that after the completion of the legislation process, the apex court would consider the application and directed the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh to complete the legislation process by October 30 while adjourning the hearing of the case till then.
