ISLAMABAD - Though the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had expressed its inability to conduct the Local Bodies elections in Islamabad on December 31 as directed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), citing very short time for this exercise, voters as well as polling agents flocked to polling stations to cast their votes. The PTI and PPP, too, established their party camps outside the polling stations. There was no polling activity in Islamabad, but even then the PTI polling agents and the voters made a beeline outside the polling stations. However, neither the polling staff reached any polling station, nor was the election material dispatched to conduct the polls. Despite this, the voters of UC 1 of Syedpur village reached the polling station and when they found that the gate of the polling station was closed and there was no polling staff, they stood there in a queue as a protest. Voters also thronged the polling stations in G-6, G-7, F-10 and F-11 Syedpur. The ECP on December 27 had cancelled the local bodies elections in Islamabad scheduled for December 31 after an increase in the union councils of the capital territory from 101 to 125. However, the IHC had asked the federal government to ensure that “it assists the ECP in holding the local government polls on December 31”. Reacting to the court order, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had said that the federal government was not in a position to hold local government elections in Islamabad. “We respect the court [Islamabad High Court], but holding the elections is not possible as the arrangements cannot be made in such a short period,” the federshort period,” the federal minister told a private TV channel. He added that as many as 1,000 polling stations needed security, election material is still not deployed at the stations and the polling staff will also be needed. “This isn’t possible.” The minister also added that since the “ground realities” do not permit the government to ensure the polls take place, the centre was going to file an intra-court appeal against the order. On Saturday, PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan filed a petition in the IHC seeking contempt proceedings against the ECP over its alleged failure to hold local government elections in the city on December. While on the other hand, the federal government and the ECP filed petitions against the IHC order order and the PTI petition seeking contempt of court proceedings. The hearing is expected to start next week. The cases were not marked by the court’s staff, and benches for hearing the pleas will be formed in the coming week. While reacting to the fresh situation, PTI chief Imran Khan lashed out at the ECP for not holding local government elections in the federal capital despite the court orders. First talking to twitter and then in a statement, the PTI chief said that the commission has once again proved that it was a ‘B team’ of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government in the centre. He went on to say that the right to vote was a fundamental democratic norm and the PTI stood committed to it.
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