The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday announced it has decided to conduct local government elections in Islamabad and directed its office to prepare the election schedule.
Local government Elections in Islamabad:
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced to conduct local government elections in Islamabad and directed officials to make an election schedule.
The electoral body announced its decision on Monday to conduct elections in the federal capital, adding that “the amendment made in Section 15 of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, through the ICT Amendment Act, 2024, is not in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Elections Act, 2017 and Section 20 of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015.”
ECP reaffirms authority on elections:
The electoral body also said that the department has official authority to appoint its own officials to make the election process smooth and fair.
According to the decision by ECP, the electoral body can also appoint district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and assistant returning officers (AROs) from the government departments, the judiciary, or other public sector institutes.
ECP orders schedule preparation for polls:
It is also mentioned in the decision by ECP that the electoral body is responsible for conducting local government elections after the 120 days of its term have ended. However, the term of Islamabad’s local government had ended on February 14, 2021.
The ECP instructed its officials to make a detailed schedule for the local government election in the federal capital, stressing that the officials need to make all arrangements for smooth and fair polls.
