ECP shows inability to hold LG polls in KP by Nov 15
ISLAMABAD - Contrary to the promise made by PTI Chief Imran Khan to hold local bodies polls in November in Khyber Pakhtuinkhwa, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ruled out the possibility of conducting local government elections in the province by November 15.
Briefing reporters on Thursday, Secretary ECP Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan said that preparations to organize polls in the province will be completed by March next year.
Explaining the reasons for delays, the ECP secretary mentioned time-consuming tasks which have yet to be completed by the commission including procurement of ballot papers in seven colours, one each for the category of seats devised in the provincial LG system.
Of the seven colours chosen for these categories, three are not available with Printing Corporation of Pakistan which prints ballots. He added that it would need two to three months just to procure the paper, seriously denting chances of conducting elections in November.
Khan further said that the PTI, the ruling party in the province, wants biometric voters' identification system implemented for the local government elections. "For this purpose, the ECP would require another few months to procure electronic voting machines (EVMs)," he said.
The secretary said the commission will explain this to the Supreme Court on coming Monday and would request the apex court to give it time till March next year to hold local government elections in KP.
The KP government has already indicated it was ready for local government polls, having completed delimitations and had passed LG laws earlier this year.
However, the PTI-led KP government remained silent on the issue till the apex court once again took up the LG polls case and summoned the provinces and ECP to get update on court's deadline to hold polls.
The Supreme Court in March had directed the provincial governments and ECP to hold LG polls. Local government polls have been pending in other three provinces since 2009. Balochistan, where local government elections took place almost a year back, the system is yet to start functioning.
The ECP also claimed that it has used specialized ink for thumb impressions on counterfoils of ballot papers in NA-149 Multan on Thursday.
ECP officials said that this ink was different than the magnetic ink used in 2013 general elections. They also claimed that new ink would make it possible to verify every ballots cast in the polls.