New delimitation of UCs: ECP refutes Punjab govt’s claim of unilateral notification

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said that there is no truth in the claims made by the Punjab government that the commission had issued a unilateral notification of new delimitation of union councils in the province without taking the local administrations onboard.

In a statement issued here, the ECP said that the persons having objections over delimitations can file their pleas to the delimitation authorities from January 9 to January 23, 2023. Urging to avoid irresponsible statements, the ECP spokesman said that the commission would continue working in accordance with the constitution. He said sections 221 and 222 of the Punjab Local Government Election Act, 2022, empowered the Commission to conduct delimitation of local government constituencies and notify delimitation committees. The revenue officers of the province were bound to provide necessary assistance to those committees and authorities.

He clarified that though the local people were not included in the delimitation process, they had the right to file objections on preliminary delimitations of constituencies.

The spokesman said Fayazul Hassan Chohan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had tried not only to mislead the people of Punjab but also leveled baseless and false allegations against the commission.

“According to section 10 of the Punjab Local Government Act 2022, delimitation is the sole responsibility of the ECP,” he added. He said that the provincial government of Punjab had fixed 25,000 as the threshold for the average population of one union council under section 10 of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2022.

“The ECP has no powers to increase or decrease the number of union councils. ECP has conducted delimitation in accordance with an average population of 25,000 each.”

“The total population of Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation is 1,958,374 and the ECP has constituted 78 union councils. The urban population of the District Council Rawalpindi is 296,776 which constitutes 12 union councils, while that of the rural area is 1,407,157 which constitute 58 union councils.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023