LB polls in cantonment areas will be held on non-party basis

ISLAMABAD: The government has not amended Cantonment Act 1924 due to which there is no other option except to hold local bodies elections in 43 cantonment areas on non-party basis on April 25.
The ordinance clearly pointed out that the local bodies elections in the cantonments would be conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) instead of the Military Lands and Cantonments.
The sources said that now after the elections the each cantonment would have a board that would include both elected and unelected members but it would not be headed by a civilian elected member.
They said that there had been a lot of deliberation over the issue of amendment in the Cantonment Act 1924 but the high ups of the government ‘thought’ it advisable to hold elections in the cantonment areas on non-party basis.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded of the federal government to hold elections in the cantonment boards on party basis with many claiming that Imran-led party enjoys support base in these areas.
According to the Cantonment (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 promulgated by the President on March 4, the slot of the administrator has been removed and the wards of the cantonment boards would have equal number of population.
The text of the ordinance states that there would be no panels of nazim and naib nazim in the upcoming local bodies elections and candidates on reserved seats would be elected on indirect and secret ballot.
It is pertinent to mention here that the station commander at the moment leads the cantonment bureaucracy and is called the President of the Cantonment Board and all the work is carried out under his watch. He approves building plans of commercial and residential buildings, the development work, and the budget.
When contacted, ECP spokesman Khurshid Alam told The News that the elections would be held on non-party basis as the Cantonment Act 1924 Section 15-BB, introduced in 1979, prevents nominees of the political parties from contesting these elections.
He said that the federal government had promulgated the Cantonment (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 on March 4 that empowers the ECP to hold local bodies elections in the cantonment boards. “ECP has to follow the existing rules that never permit it to hold local bodies elections in the cantonment areas on the party basis. It was up to the government to carry out legislation or promulgate ordinance to pave the way for holding these elections on the party basis,” he said.
To a question, he said the last local government polls in the cantonment areas were held in 1998 when the number of the boards in the country was less than 35.Replying to another question, he said that the ECP has issued schedule for the elections in the cantonment areas so he never thinks that the government would now carry out any kind of legislation to hold these elections on the party basis.Despite repeated attempts by this correspondent Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid was not available for comments.