ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered local government elections to be held in the federal capital today, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) filed an intra-court appeal against the decisions on Saturday morning (December 31).
The IHC ordered the electoral body to hold the elections in accordance with the timetable on Friday after admitting the petitions submitted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) seeking to overturn the ECP’s decision to postpone the LG elections.
After a change in the union councils of the capital territory, the ECP suspended the December 31 timetable to hold the local government elections in the federal capital on December 27.
However, the high court instructed the federal government to make sure “it aids the electoral commission in holding the local government polls” in its one-page short order.
The order also stated that the election commission’s December 27 notification and the December 19 letter from the Ministry of Interior had both been declared invalid.
After the federal government raised the number of union councils (UCs) in the nation’s capital without consulting the latter, the electoral commission postponed the voting.
Court had voiced its disapproval with the federal government’s stance before reserving the ruling.
The court expressed its disappointment with the government’s lack of involvement.
ECP consults an urgent meeting
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered local elections to be held in Islamabad on December 31. The federal government chose to contest the IHC’s decision (today).
The ECP will appeal the ruling internally, according to Munawar Iqbal Duggal, the additional attorney general, who confirmed the move.
