Impossible to hold LG polls: ECP to inform SC today
The ECP said that it was not possible to hold polls on the scheduled dates.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) maintained that the local bodies (LB) elections in the present circumstances were not possible as the three provinces were yet to meet the prerequisites necessary for the exercise and will submit yet another application in the Supreme Court today (Monday) for fresh directions.
The decision to seek the apex court’s intervention again was made in a hurriedly called meeting here at the Election Commission with Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jillani in the chair.
The ECP said that it was not possible to hold polls on the scheduled dates. The fresh application will be filed today after an earlier application was set aside by the Supreme Court, and the Election Commission was asked to conduct the elections as per the dates proposed by Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab.
The Punjab government wrote to the ECP and expressed its inability to carry out the reconciliation of voter lists with the census blocks and is also in the process of filing an application to seek more time for the upcoming polls that are fixed for December 7.
The most important issue impeding the polls in Punjab is the fact that the provincial government promulgated an ordinance to hold party-based elections after the Lahore High Court (LHC) gave direction on this count last week.
There are a number of legal issues that need to be addressed first. With the issuance of an ordinance, you can’t conduct party-based polls, the ECP sources said.
