Soon after the Lahore High Court’s decision to annul delimitation, the provincial government decided to delay the local government (LG) elections. The announcement has in turn put a damper on the election campaigns of opposition parties in Rawalpindi, who have all postponed their respective planning meetings.
Caught in limbo, party leaders are now in a fix as to whether they should continue their electioneering or give up the efforts, uncertain due to the inherent ambiguity in the provincial government’s decisions on the issue.
“We don’t understand what the government is doing. They should either say they are not interested in the elections or announce a confirmation stating when they will be held….but it is clear that they are not interested in holding it,” said Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, chief of the Awami Muslim League. He said that a planned meeting between his party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami had to be cancelled after Rana Sanaullah announced that the new delimitation will take time, essentially delaying the elections indefinitely.
Meanwhile, independent candidates who have filed their nomination papers are also unsure if the election will be held at all, or if they have wasted their time and energy in filing the requisite papers and forms. So far, 8,784 contesters have filed their documents.
The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench had annulled the new delimitation for the city’s district government after petitions were filed against it. The district government had increased the number of union councils (UCs) in Rawal Town from 46 to 55, while Potohar Town saw the number of UCs rise from 36 to 39. The petitions filed claimed that the district government had purposely created disparities, as some UCs had as many as 20,000 voters, while others had barely 7,000.
“This is the second time I have filed nomination papers, and after this decision I am sure that I just wasted my time,” said Asif Naeem Abbasi, who was planning to contest for the vice chairmanship of UC 18-Rawal Town. “If the general elections could be held on old constituencies, they should work just fine for the local government election as well,” he opined.
The perceived delay tactics have also been criticised by the Pakistan People’s Party, based on the concern that this attitude cannot strengthen state institutions. “The PML-N led provincial government needs to stop burying their head in the sand like an ostrich in critical times such as these,” said PPP District President Amir Fida Paracha. He added that his party has finalised all arrangements for the elections, as is the case with other opposition parties as well.
The displeasure of the PTI is evident from a party statement declaring that they will go to court if the elections are delayed further. “The provincial government doesn’t seem interested in sharing power with UC chairmen and councillors,” said MPA Ijaz Khan Jazi. Explaining his rationale, he said that delaying the election for even a year would mean depriving the people of their rights.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.