ECP must come up to the mark 

Asem Mustafa Awan

President Arif Alvi has sent back the Islamabad Local Government Amendment Bill without his signature. In the Bill, the government has made amendments including increasing the number of union councils, which will require several more months to be implemented.

The Islamabad High Court had ordered the government to hold local elections immediately at the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

The government has filed an appeal against the IHC order. What is likely to happen, the government will once again take the approval of this bill from the National Assembly as well as the Senate together and make it a law by presenting new justifications for not holding Local Body elections in the capital, but the matter of rejection by the President in this context will form a part of the record.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on the other hand, the main ally of the federal government, has warned to part ways with the government if new constituencies are not made in Karachi by January 15. It should be recalled that the new constituencies of Karachi city were the first condition among many that MQM had set for the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.

MQM believes that the population of Karachi was deliberately understated in the last census so that the number of urban seats remains low and Pakistan People’s Party should reap the benefit.

If MQM quits the ruling coalition, the Pakistan Democratic Alliance-led government will lose its majority.

The primary role in this matter is that of the Election Commission of Pakistan. Apparently the onus of election-related conflicts in the country which is on the ECP. The reasons could range from political pressure to the institution in competency.

Nevertheless, the ECP in its earlier statement categorically mentioned that it needs seven to eight months to hold general elections in the country as demanded by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf.

The organisation is tasked with only one thing that is to hold polls and it has failed miserably on one pretext or the other as the cases that are with ECP have been delayed for reasons best known to ECP itself.

ECP’s decision against Tehreek-e-Insaf in the matter of foreign funding or prohibited funding has raised enough uproar, it is not the question of whether the decision is right or wrong, and question is why it (ECP) took so long. What are the reasons for the delay in coming to a decision regarding the prohibited or foreign funding cases of PPP, PML-N and the JUI-F. The silence on part of ECP gives rise to many rumors.

The previous government led by Imran Khan proposed electronic voting machines to ensure transparent elections and the government was willing to provide funds for eradicating the menace of rigging once and for all but the Election Commission opposed it.

The Election Commission of Pakistan is a constitutional body and is entrusted with a task that represents the true will of the masses. When the ECP will play its due role accordingly only time can tell?

The Government, opposition and ECP need to sit together to find a mutually agreed solution so that the people could elect their true representatives.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.