LG polls in cantonment boards will be held on April 25 and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on May 30
The Supreme Court on Friday issued an order regarding the schedule of local government (LG) elections in Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the cantonment boards.
According to the order, LG elections will be held on April 25 in the 43 cantonment boards and on May 30 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During the hearing of the case on Friday, a three-member bench of the apex court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit written schedule of LB polls in Islamabad by March 10. The earlier date proposed by ECP for LB polls was May 16 in the cantonment boards and June 7 for KP. The court had earlier rejected the schedule for holding LG polls in Punjab and Sindh in three phases starting from Sept 30, Nov 4 and Dec 9.
The ECP assured the SC about conducting LG elections in Punjab and Sindh on September 20.
The SC earlier on Tuesday came close to issuing a contempt notice to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after it rejected a government plea stating that an ordinance to hold local government elections in all 43 cantonment boards of the country was ready.
“We are deliberately exercising caution and restraint by not issuing contempt notices to the chief executive, but the court will not show reluctance in fulfilling its constitutional obligations if it is established that judgment was flouted,” a two-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja had observed.
The court had in several proceedings accepted the government’s request to extend the deadline for holding the elections in cantonment areas. It had also proceeded against former defence secretary retired Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik under contempt charges for not honouring his undertaking to hold the elections in cantonment areas by Sept 15, 2013.
