Daily Times

The comments by Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani reveal that a possible tussle may ensue between two esteemed institutions over the conduct of the local government (LG) elections in the Islamabad federal territory. An ostensible difference of opinion between the Supreme Court (SC) and parliament has put the holding of local government elections scheduled to be held on July 25 in the federal capital in the doldrums. After being admonished by the SC in March 2015, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had given a tentative schedule for LG elections to be held in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Cantonment Boards and Islamabad. Meanwhile, a bill called the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Conduct of Elections) 2015 was passed by the National Assembly and sent to the Senate for its consideration. On its part, the SC has been focusing on the completion of the already delayed process of holding LG elections all over the country in pursuance of Article 140 of the constitution that speaks of devolving political, administrative and financial responsibility to local governments. The legislators, on the other hand, want to give a proper legal cover to the first-ever electoral exercise in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) by completing the necessary formalities involved in legislation. The Senate Chairman says that the SC’s order to hold LG elections in Islamabad when the enabling law is yet to be passed is tantamount to obstructing, restricting and infringing on the right of parliament to legislate. The issue of whether these elections should be party or non-party based is yet to be resolved, besides some other deficiencies in the law. On Monday, the SC was informed that after the passage of the said bill by the National Assembly on March 26, 2015, it was now under scrutiny in the upper house of parliament. As a result, the SC seems sceptical about the holding of polls as per schedule and the court has sought an update from the government about the status of the concerned legislation.

After successful conclusion of LG polls in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Cantonment Boards all over the country, the ECP is now all set to hold the polls in Islamabad but a delay in the passage of the bill has made the whole process uncertain and put the ECP in an awkward situation. On its part, the ECP has issued the lists of contesting candidates and it is ready to start the printing of about 42 million ballot papers on a non-party basis. If, however, the legislators decide to hold these elections on a party basis, the ECP will have to re-initiate the entire exercise of printing the ballot papers. The bill that will likely come on the agenda of the upper house during the current week has therefore attained great importance. The Senate panel in its report recommends that the local bodies elections may be conducted on party basis in pursuance of the judgment of the Lahore High Court, wherein the direction is to hold elections on a party basis. It said the local government elections being held in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and those held in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were party based and there should be no discrimination in the case of Islamabad. The point is valid and the Senate should be given an opportunity to legalise the whole process as has been done in the case of the provinces. In this scenario, the PML-N can play a decisive role in ending the imbroglio. It should play its role in speeding up the legislative process by ensuring the approval of the amendments in the bill introduced by the Senate in the National Assembly where it enjoys a majority. The devolution of power to the grassroots level is the essential lowest rung of the democratic edifice and citizens should not be deprived of their democratic right to elect their local representatives. The Senate and the National Assembly should complete the legislation regarding the bill in question as soon as possible, while the SC should allow the ECP to reschedule the elections in Islamabad after all legal formalities are fulfilled. *