- SC asks Commission to file recommendations on phase-wise polling today
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday requested the Supreme Court to postpone holding local bodies (LB) elections in Punjab and Sindh by at least a month.
During the hearing, the SC issued notice to Sindh advocate general for not appearing before the court. The court said that there is no reason to file a case’s delay plea. The bench said that LB polls matter is a legal matter and people of both the provinces have been waiting for elections since 2009.
The ECP said that available police and staffers are less in numbers due to floods. The commission requested the court to allow deferring LB polls until October.
The Punjab advocate general opposed the request saying that holding of elections in October would not be possible due to security concerns in the month of Muharram.
Justice Khawaja asked the counsels to explain as to why LB polls were not held for past six years. He said that both the governments are in power since 2008. The authorities should offer their apologies to the people, if they want to, he added.
Justice Dost Muhammad said that the government did not conduct any study to avoid destruction through floods. He said that if the SC permits elections in October, the government would be facing some other problem when the time comes.
However, the ECP representative said that if the authorities are permitted to hold LB polls phase-wise, flood-hit areas would come last in the matter.
The court adjourned the hearing until August 12 (today) and ordered ECP to file recommendations.
