Local bodies elections: ECP wants 2017 Census results published till March 1

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Thursday called for official publication of 2017 Census results till March 1 keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan had opposed delimitation on basis of provisional data terming it against the law.

In this connection, the Commission held a hearing on the holding of local government elections in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Representatives from both the provinces presented their respective positions, which were identical.

Secretary local government and advocate general Balochistan took the position that since the results of 2017 census had not been officially published, delimitation on the basis of provisional census data was against the law and inappropriate. He emphasized that the provincial government wanted to amend the Local Government Act and that the proposed amendment would be presented in the next meeting of the cabinet for approval.

To this, the ECP gave 10 days to the Balochistan government to make the necessary amendments.

Assisting the Commission, the deputy attorney general said the federal government was working for official publication of 2017 Census results. On this, the Commission said the sensitivity of the issue should be taken into consideration and the federal government should be requested to ensure official publication of the results of 2017 census till March 1 so that constitutional and legal responsibilities with regard to the local bodies’ elections could be fulfilled. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was represented by its minister for local government, chief secretary and advocate general. The advocate general took the position that it was not appropriate for the Commission to delimit constituencies under Section 17 (2) of the Election Act without publication of the official census data for 2017. The Commission questioned the position of Local Government Act Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2019 and contended that constituencies could be delimited on the provisional census data of 2017 or official final published data. It was noted that since there was a contradiction in the law, so the federal law enforcement would be considered and implemented. However, the KP chief secretary and minister suggested that the Commission should consider the provincial government’s request.

The commission then called on the deputy attorney general and secretary Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) to present their stance.

The Secretary IPC said, “We are trying to get the publication of the census results approved by the CCI”.

The Commission directed the deputy attorney general and Secretary IPC to immediately take up the matter with the appropriate forum of the federal government and ensure that the results of official census were released before March 1.

The Commission emphasised that the official publication should be ensured so that local bodies’ elections could be held by carrying out delimitation in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

In this regard, the Election Commission will hold another hearing in the first week of March.

Meanwhile, the Commission has summoned the Punjab chief secretary and secretary local government on February 15 at 10am so that the next local bodies elections could be held as soon as possible. The Commission will now meet on February 15.