Punjab local govt elections: ECP delays delimitation of constituencies for 15 days

ISLAMABAD: Accepting the Punjab government’s request, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Friday delayed the publication of initial delimitation of constituencies for 15 days because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this regard, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired an important meeting on the Punjab Local Government elections here. ECP members, secretary local government, secretary law, additional advocate gene ral, secretary ECP, Election Commissioner Punjab and other officials attended the meeting. The secretary ECP informed the meeting about progress in the delimitation of constituencies for the local government elections in Punjab.

The meeting was informed about the completion of the process in naming the Punjab Village, Panchayat and Neighborhood Councils in consultation with focal persons/deputy commissioners and publication of initial delimitation by the Election Commission on September 18.

All arrangements for publication are complete. The Election Commission is fully prepared for publication of preliminary constituencies’ delimitation. However, secretary Local Government Punjab requested the ECP to legally approve the naming of Village, Panchayat and Neighborhood Councils with the approval of the cabinet.

Since this action takes time, it was requested that the publication of preliminary lists of constituencies, which was scheduled to take place on Friday, be postponed to meet this important legal requirement.

Furthermore, he told the Election Commission that if the delimitation was published on Friday as per schedule, there would be a lot of rush in the offices of delimitation authorities to lodge and hear objections to the people. The situation will endanger the public health.

Therefore, keeping these reasons in mind, he urged that the delimitation of constituencies should not be published yet and the provincial government should be given adequate time to get the names of Village, Panchayat and Neighborhood Councils approved by the provincial cabinet.

The secretary requested that the initial publication of constituencies be extended by 15 days. The secretary was informed that the Election Commission was ready for publication of initial constituencies. However, on the request of the provincial government to avoid any possible legal complications and ensure the conduct of local government elections, the initial publication of delimitation might be delayed.

The ECP also directed the provincial government to submit a detailed position of the Punjab government on the coronavirus pandemic so that it could take appropriate steps for holding the elections.