IHC reserves verdict on Islamabad LG polls

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad high court (IHC) on Friday reserved the verdict on local government (LG) elections in Islamabad, ARY News reported.

According to details, Chief justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petitions regarding LG polls in Islamabad.

Chief justice said that if LG tenure was completed in 2020 then the election should have been held at that time but the party which is in power never takes interest in holding LG polls.

He said that until the city has no small parliament like Delhi, the federal capital will remain a hub of problems.

The petitioner said that the state should not deprive citizens of their basic right of casting vote if this happens then the transparency of LG polls will be questioned.

In response, the Director General Election Commission said that the number of union councils were increase after the LG polls scheduled. The December 31 Islamabad LG polls should be held on the previous schedule, DG ECP added.

However, the chief justice said that the court cannot interfere the in the ECP jurisdictions as it is an independent institution.

The court reserved the verdict on the Islamabad LG polls case.

Earlier, the federal government increased the number of union councils (UCs) in Islamabad 10 days before the scheduled polling day for local government elections, surprising candidates as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

It is pertinent to mention here that a few months ago the government enhanced the number of union councils in the federal capital to 101.

The Election Commission had delimited the constituencies and issued a new schedule for local government elections in Islamabad after a previous increase in the number of union councils.

The ECP had announced holding the local government elections in the federal capital on December 31