Islamabad: The Election Commission has postponed the local body elections scheduled for December 31 in Islamabad.
The case related to the local elections was heard in the Election Commission under the chairmanship of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Advocate General Jahangir Jadoon and former Attorney General Ishtar Ausaf appeared on behalf of the federal government and argued in favor of increasing the Union Councils of Islamabad.
Ishtar Ausaf said that due to the increase in the population of Islamabad, the number of USCs was increased, previously the number of union councils was increased from 50 to 101, now the number of union councils has been increased to 125.
Member Nisar Durrani said that the number of Union Councils was increased to 101 in June, how did the population of Islamabad increase so much within 6 months?
Member ECP Ikramullah Khan said that according to our records the population of Islamabad has not increased so much.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that the Election Commission has demarcated the constituencies twice in Islamabad, why the government did not think of increasing the union councils first, every provincial government does not want to hold local elections, governments amend the Election Act every other day. The local body elections are postponed, there is a fear that the government will not change the union councils again after the constituencies.
Babar Awan, the lawyer of PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan, opposed the increase in the number of USCs and said that the final approval of the bill to increase the number of Union Councils has not yet been given. The federal government changed the number of USCs without consulting the Election Commission.
Babar Awan urged to conduct the election on December 31 and said that it is a joke with the constitution to say not to hold local elections 3 days before.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s lawyer Hasan Javed argued in favor of holding the election on time that the municipal elections were held after 50 years of the establishment of Islamabad, since two years there has been no representation of the people in Islamabad, if the government had notified a night before the elections. So would the election be stopped? The government does not interfere in the election process, postponing the elections a few days before polling would be an insult to the people.
After hearing the arguments, the Election Commission accepted the federal government’s request and postponed the local body elections in Islamabad.
The commission said in the decision that the elections were postponed after the decision of the Islamabad High Court.
