The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has told the Supreme Court (SC) that Local Bodies (LB) polls will be held in Punjab during November 2015, in Sindh during March 2016, and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in May of this year.
The ECP told this to the court while filing its report on when it would be holding LB polls in Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad and Cantonment Board.
The ECP further informed the court that necessary legislation has been enacted to hold LB polls in the cantonment board and a proposed bill has been sent to concerned authorities in this respect. Provinces have, however, not filed any report on their own and the ECP has filed all the details with reference to the provinces through its report.
The report filed by Akram Sheikh Advocate said that people have been appointed to draw up maps in connection with the delimitation of 35 districts in Punjab. Some matters have yet to be resolved. They pertain to the delimitation of constituencies in districts, including Attock, Faisalabad, Okara, Chiniot, Sialkot and DG Khan. However, the Punjab authorities have assured that they will overcome these difficulties soon.
Matters have also been settled about LB polls in Sindh. A bill aimed at making amendments in the Public Representative Act has been presented in the Sindh assembly, and is likely to be approved in the next session. The last population census was held in 1998, and the population in urban areas of Sindh has increased a great deal since then. Therefore, certain difficulties are being faced in conducting the delimitation process in the region.
The KP government has consented to hold LB polls in the month of May and arrangements are being made in this regard.