Electoral body rules out LG polls on 31st: IHC asks ECP to give realistic timeline for elections in capital

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to furnish a realistic timeline for holding local government (LG) elections in the federal capital as it has scrapped December 31 as the day of polling.

The IHC directive came after Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir took up the petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) that requested the court to nullify the ECP’s decision of postponing the local government elections in Islamabad.

The ECP told the court in clear terms that it could not hold the elections on Dec 31 as it required as many as 60 days for the delimitation exercise and also needed time to ensure that the polling material is distributed properly.

On this, Justice Arbab Tahir asked the ECP to give a timeline as to when it plans to hold the LG polls in the capital.

The judge also ordered the ECP to submit the details of the funds spent so far on the elections, saying the court would not allow anyone to waste the taxpayers’ money.

The attorney general for Pakistan, who was summoned to assist the court on the matters at hand, proposed recovering the money from the federal cabinet if the elections do not take place on the stipulated time and the printing process has to be carried out all over again.

The hearing was adjourned till December 30 (today).

At the outset of the hearing, the ECP’s director general informed the court that the commission, in line with the law, required 60 days for the delimitation exercise. “Will you be able to hold elections after 60 days? Also, what are the things on which the election commission has spent funds,” the judge asked.

The ECP official told the court that funds had been spent on printing of ballot papers, among other things required for elections. “Until now, millions of rupees have been spent then; and we will not allow the nation’s tax money to be wasted,” Justice Tahir remarked.

In response, the senior ECP official said that during Wednesday’s hearing, the court was informed that Rs500-Rs600 million was spent; however, those figures are untrue, as Rs150-160 million would be needed to hold the elections.

The court then asked the DG to submit, in writing, the details of the expenses incurred so far.

The attorney general said he agreed that the nation’s money should not go to waste.

Justice Tahir inquired whether the ECP was violating the commitment it had made to the court on Dec 27 that it would hold the polls later. However, the ECP claimed that it had made a conditional commitment.

If the ECP is ready to hold the polls, why it does not proceed with the elections, asked the judge. On this, the ECP official said that dispatching polling material to the polling stations takes time.

“You just have to send the polling material within the limits of Islamabad … how much time can that take.” But the ECP official reiterated that given the new conditions the commission could not hold elections on Dec 31.

The court asked the attorney general to hold a meeting with the federal government and take their advice on the matter. The judge also asked the ECP to give it a realistic timeframe for holding the elections.

The PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan and Jamaat-e-Islami had moved the IHC to quash the ECP’s decision to postpone the elections in Islamabad. According to Ali Awan, the order violates Article 75 (3) of the Constitution.

The petitioners made the cabinet secretary, the interior secretary and the ECP parties to the petition. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, the Metropolitan Corporation, and District Election Commission were also named as respondents.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022