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The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday postponed local government elections for Islamabad, set to be conducted on Dec. 31, in light of a change in the union councils of the federal capital.
Announced by a five-member bench led by Chief Election Commission Sikandar Sultan Raja, the verdict had been reserved earlier in the day after all stakeholders concluded their arguments.
During the hearing, former attorney general Ashtar Ausaf—representing the federal government in the case—argued the polls should be delayed as the number of union councils in Islamabad were increased based on an increase in its population. To a question by the CEC about the pending census report, he said the updated data had been provided to the government by the census bureau and this needed to be considered by the ECP.
“The Islamabad High Court (IHC) also recognized the increase in population but authorized the Election Commission to take the final decision after listening to the government’s point of view,” he said, noting that past elections have likewise been postponed after the release of their schedule in accordance with law. He said the National Assembly had already passed legislation to increase the number of union councils and the ECP must now conduct a new delimitation exercise in Islamabad.
Raja recalled that the ECP had already conduced the delimitation of constituencies for Islamabad twice, adding a similar exercise had been witnessed in Punjab, where delimitation was being done for the third time. “Why did the government not realize the need to increase the union councils earlier?” questioned the CEC, adding that this had placed the ECP in a difficult situation.
“In Article 148 of the Constitution, it is written that elections are to be conducted according to the local law. Now, if that law is changed, then what should be done? There should be legislation binding the authorities to hold elections on time,” he said, adding that there was similar resistance in conducting local government elections from provincial governments.
The CEC also raised concerns over the government changing the union councils again after fresh delimitation had been conducted. To this, Ausaf assured the ECP that there would be no more changes in the law.
Opposing delay
Both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) opposed any further delay to the polls, with PTI lawyer Babar Awan claiming the government was “misleading” the ECP and the local government law had already been changed twice. “The president has not yet approved the bill,” he said, adding that even if it were passed into law, it could be challenged in court and under Article 264, elections must be held as per existing law.
JI counsel Hassan Javed stressed that the people of Islamabad had been without any local representation for two years. He also said the IHC had not challenged the ECP’s decision to conduct polls on time. “The high court did not declare the authority, opinion or decision of the Election Commission as wrong. It only said that these parties were not heard, take a decision after listening to them,” he said, wrapping up his arguments.