By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: A Supreme Court bench on Thursday ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to fix dates for Local Government (LG) elections within a week.
“We are our own enemies, not requiring an external foe, if we fail in compliance of the constitution,” Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked in the hearing. The court adjourned further hearing of the case for a week.
“Why the local councils elections not being held, why the people are being deprived of democracy,” Justice Faez Isa earlier questioned. “The supreme court’s order being violated by not holding the local government polls,” the learned justice remarked.
Justice Isa in a reference to the Article 6 of the constitution said those hindering enforcement of the constitution committing an act of high treason. “It seems the election commission not being guided by the constitution but getting instructions from someone else,” the bench remarked. Chief Election Commissioner informed the court that the last term of the local councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was completed on August 25 in 2019. The province has yet to legislate for the new local government law, the CEC said.
“It is responsibility of the election commission to hold elections but it didn’t fulfill this constitutional responsibility while around two years have passed to the completion of the previous local government term”, the court remarked.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan announced Local Bodies elections in the province on September 15 this year which has been endorsed by the provincial cabinet.
This is a landmark decision of the province to decentralize power down to the grassroots level. He said that the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to the decentralization of power and authority and decision making at grassroots level in the province. The decision made by the chief minister was fully endorsed by the provincial cabinet which met here on Wednesday with the Chief Minister in the chair and was participated by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary and administrative secretaries.
PM promise for LG Polls: Earlier in November 2020 Prime Minister Imran Khan said, for a city to be successful, it has to be run like a country, he was addressing the business community in Faisalabad on as he promised the best local government system in the country.
