LAHORE: On behalf of two opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML), petitions have been moved before the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the Punjab Local Government (amendment) Ordinance 2016.

The petitioners mainly challenged the two new amendments in the ordinance, wherein the manner to elect the chairman and vice chairman of district council and municipal committee as well as mayors and deputy mayors of metropolitan corporations and municipal corporations has been changed from ‘secret ballot’ to ‘by open division’.

The election of reserved seats has been substituted with nomination on the basis of proportional representation system of political parties’ list of candidates in order of priority and total number of candidates of general seats secured by political party, depriving the independently elected members their rights.

The petitioners also challenged the changed/reduced qualification criteria for the seats reserved for ‘technocrats’ as well as absence of any requisite technical expertise for the candidates and ‘unjustified’ enhanced number of the reserved seats for ‘technocrats’ and ‘youth members’. The petitioners requested to set aside the impugned amendments and restrain the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from holding the upcoming election for reserved seats as well as seats for mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and vice chairmen.

An advocate, Mubeenuddin Qazi, filed the petitions on behalf of PTI through its leader Ishaq Khan Khaqwani and PML-Q through its Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha.

Petitioners stated that giving the retrospective effect to the amendments made in the PLGA 2013 after the announcement of the schedule of election is a sheer malafide of the Punjab government. He has stated that Article 226 of the Constitution specifically provides that all elections under the constitution shall be held by secret ballot.

He stated that under this constitutional command, the election of the LG could not be held by any other mode except by the secret ballot, as the LG polls are also held under the constitution.

The counsel said that not only a full bench of LHC but also the Supreme Court through a hierarchy of judgments has categorically held that the LG elections are conducted under the constitution. He stated that provisions of the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 to the extent of substituting the mode of election for the seats of mayors and chairmen etc. from the ‘secret ballot’ to ‘pen division’ are null and void, being violative of the constitutional provisions.

He stated that the secret ballot is a voting method to prevent attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, adding that the secret ballot protects political privacy and curbs corruption.

He stated that by rubbing the secret ballot, the government wanted to punish those who vote “the wrong way” or reward those who vote “the right way” as per their wishes. He said that the ‘secret ballot’ is a proper way of electing leadership whereas open division method is a vote for cash and not vote for democracy, adding that the impugned amendments have been issued after the election schedule of the LG elections.

The government was illegally bent upon giving amended provisions a retrospective effect and even requested the ECP to withdraw its schedule, he added.

He said that it is the constitutional mandate of the ECP to hold fair and transparent election for the local governments as per Articles 140A and 218(3) and 219(d) of the Constitution.