Local bodies’ polls without census open to legal challenges: experts

In the absence of an official notification of the results of census carried out in 2017, local government elections in Pakistan, if held, will be open to legal challenges, experts believe.

They said even the process leading to the elections, including delimitation, would be questionable and would require a constitutional amendment on the pattern of the 24th Amendment that allowed a one-time waiver and paved way for general elections in 2018 on the basis of provisional census results.

According to the elections law, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is responsible to delimit territorial constituencies for elections to the National Assembly, each provincial assembly and to local governments.

Since a final notification of census results is still on hold, the delimitation of constituencies - a prerequisite for holding elections if carried out would be illegal.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had rejected the provisional census results and had agreed to vote in favour of the 24th Amendment on the condition of third person audit of 1% census blocks proportionately in all the provinces selected by random computer ballot. The audit has never been carried out.

One of the political parties to have rejected provisional census results is now part of the ruling coalition.

Under the law, the local government elections in all the provinces have to take place within four months after expiry of the term of local bodies.

The term of local government in Balochistan expired on January 27 and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 28. Local governments in Punjab had been dissolved on May 4.

The standard time of 120 days, also mentioned in almost all the provincial local governments has already passed but the provinces too continue to drag their feet on the elections.

KP is yet to pass a new local government law while Punjab has passed new law but is in the process of framing local government rules. In Balochistan, the process of delimitation had been started months ago, but the provincial government had given a stay against the exercise, which still holds the field.

On the other hand, the ECP which had allowed delimitation in Balochistan on the basis of provisional census data continues to persuade the provinces to provide it with the prerequisites for holding local government elections.

An ECP official said holding of local government elections was a constitutional responsibility of the commission.