ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza, on Tuesday heard a case related to local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
KP Special Secretary of Local Government Abid Kakakhel and Secretary of Local Government Zubair Shah appeared in the hearing.
Chief Election Commissioner Raza questioned the officials regarding the progress following a notification about the local government elections in the province. To which, Shah replied that the government is still working on formulating regulations for the reserved seats in the Local Government Act, 2017.
Raza said the local government is already delayed due to the work on delimitations. He added it seems the provincial authorities do not want to give powers to the local bodies’ representatives.
To this, the secretary responded that the burden on the concerned authorities is increased to expedite work on local government system following the merger of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and erstwhile Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Subsequently, the commission adjourned the hearing till October 10.
It merits a mention here that the tenure of local bodies of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expired on Aug 28, whereas, the election commission is bound to hold elections within 120 days.
