ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the government of Punjab’s excuse of corona factor, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday said it appeared the provincial government was not serious in holding the local government elections.
To this effect, an important meeting of the Election Commission was held here at the Election Commission Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. The meeting was attended by members of Election Commission, secretary ECP, secretary local government Punjab and other officials of the ECP. The meeting was a continuation of the previous meeting dated December 30, 2020 in which the Punjab government was directed to inform the CECP about the dates of local bodies elections.
Punjab local government secretary clarified that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has recommended postponing the local bodies elections in the light of the outbreak of COVID-19. However, expressing anger over the position of the Punjab government, the Election Commission said that it seemed that the provincial government was not serious in holding local government elections. The ECP pointed out that it had already issued a schedule for holding by-elections in eight national and provincial assemblies constituencies across the country with COVID-19 SOPs in mind. Therefore, it emphasised that the excuse of Punjab government for postponing the elections regarding COVID-19 would not be accepted.