IHC seeks realistic timeline from ECP for LG polls in capital

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to furnish a realistic timeline for holding local government (LG) polls in the capital, scheduled to take place on December 31.

The development came after Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir took up the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), seeking to nullify the ECP’s decision to postpone the local government elections.

The ECP clearly told the court that it could not hold elections on December 31 as it required as many as 60 days for delimitation and also needed time to ensure that all the polling material was distributed.

The judge then told the election commission to provide a timeline as to when it plans on holding the polls. If the court concludes tomorrow that the elections cannot be held, then it will view the timeline.

Justice Tahir also asked the election body to submit the details of funds utilised so far for the elections as he stressed not allowing the taxpayers money to go waste.

Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali — who was summoned for assisting the court with the case — advised recovering the money from the federal cabinet if the elections do not take place on stipulated time and the printing process has to be done all over again.

As the hearing for the case took place, the election commission’s director-general informed the court that the body, in line with the law, required 60 days for delimitation.

“Will you be able to hold elections after 60 days, then? Also, what were the things on which the election commission spent funds?” the court inquired.

The ECP’s DG told the court that the funds had been spent on the printing of ballot papers, among other things required for elections. “Until now, millions of rupees have been spent then, and we will not allow the nation’s tax money to be wasted,” Justice Tahir stressed.

In response, the DG said during yesterday’s hearing, the court was informed that nearly Rs500-Rs600 million were spent. However, those facts are untrue. “It will take the ECP Rs150-160 million to hold the elections.”

The court then asked the DG to submit, in writing, the details of expenses incurred so far.

Justice Tahir asked whether the election commission could review its decision to postpone the polls. In response, the ECP’s DG told the court that it wasn’t possible as the election material could not be dispatched before December 31.

Justice Tahir inquired whether the ECP was violating its promise to the court made on December 27 that it would hold polls later on. But the ECP told the court that it had made a conditional promise.

The director-general informed Justice Tahir that dispatching polling material to the polling stations takes time.

“You just have to send the polling material within the limits of Islamabad, how much time can that take?” the court wondered. But the ECP’s DG reiterated that given the new conditions, the commission cannot hold elections on December 31.

Then, the court asked AG Ausaf to hold a meeting with the federal government and take their advice on the matter. Also, the court asked the ECP to give it a “realistic” timeline for holding elections and not inform the court that it could only hold polls in June next year.

After hearing Thursday’s arguments, the hearing was adjourned till December 30 (Friday).