As local government elections remain stalled in all provinces, there is a need to take account of the situation. For a functioning democracy, it is imperative that it has well-oiled local government systems at all administrative tiers. It is not only a constitutional responsibility of respective provincial governments to enact laws ensuring proper devolution of power to lower levels, it is also an obligation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make sure that all proper arrangements are made in a timely manner. A timely conduct of these polls has been a challenge for nearly all democratic governments in Pakistan. This appears to be mainly because the provincial assembly members are hardly interested in devolving power to local governments, and try their best to retain as much power as possible in their own provincial domain. Despite repeated orders by courts, no significant progress has been visible in this direction for many years now. Essentially, both federal and provincial governments need to fulfill their responsibilities to enable the ECP to hold LG polls.
Provincial governments have become adept at using one pretext or another to oppose or postpone LG elections in their respective provinces irrespective of which political party is in power there. Be it the PML-N, PPP, or the PTI, all have displayed a callous disregard for this requirement of a democratic dispensation. Take, for example, the issue of constituency delimitation that has been used time and again to procrastinate in the matter of the process of LG polls. One objection propounded by provincial governments was that the provisional results of Census 2017 were not reliable. They refused to accept the delimitation results unless population census results were officially notified. Now, the Council of Common Interests (CII) has approved the results of the population census 2017 and there appears to be no reason for any further delays in the matter. Even then, the conduct of LG elections in the near future given the Covid situation, even though other by-elections have taken place without taking into account the pandemic. It is true that immediate holding of LG elections is not advisable, what with intermittent lockdowns and increasing mortalities, but at least all other preparations must move forward.
In the beginning of this year, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments had suggested to the ECP that LG polls may be held in September 2021. As things stand today, even that seems pretty hard to achieve. All relevant stakeholders must take steps to prepare themselves for such polls by the end of the year, with the estimation that the pandemic will hopefully likely subside by then. The Punjab government is yet to hand over to the ECP maps and other related documents for constituency delimitations in the province. The same applies to the Balochistan and Sindh governments which have been using other excuses to delay the polls. Even the federal government has been reluctant to provide the correct number of Union Councils in the Islamabad Capital Territory. LG polls in cantonment boards are also yet to be conducted. The ECP appears to be ready but it cannot do so unless the government formally requests it to conduct the exercise in cantonment boards across the country.