ISLAMABAD: A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) delegation led by party’s Naib Ameer Liaqat Baloch met the Chief Election Commissioner and discussed in detail the matter of local government elections in Islamabad.
The delegation included JI Naib Ameer Liaqat Baloch, JI Naib Ameer Mian Muhammad Aslam and JI Islamabad Ameer Engineer Nasrullah Randhawa.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Liaqat Baloch said the JI delegation had met the Chief Election Commissioner and the issue of Islamabad’s local government elections came under discussion.
He said local government elections in Islamabad were repeatedly announced and then postponed, depriving the people of Islamabad of their basic democratic right.
According to Liaqat Baloch, the Chief Election Commissioner acknowledged that elections were delayed because governments repeatedly brought amendments to the election law.
Baloch said holding local government elections was the constitutional responsibility of the government, adding that the establishment of local bodies was mandatory under the Constitution of Pakistan.
He said the country continued to face political conflict, from which, he said, the civil-military establishment benefited. He added that politics in the country could not become stable unless the local government system was empowered.
The JI leader said the people of Punjab were also being deprived of their basic rights by not holding local government elections. He said no party, after coming into power, was ready to provide an empowered local government system.
He also said the Election Commission of Pakistan should be empowered.
Liaqat Baloch said the Chief Election Commissioner told the delegation that the Election Commission had sent around 63 election-related amendments to the government, but the government was not ready to act on them.
“We have asked the Chief Election Commissioner to provide us the draft of these reform amendments. Jamaat-e-Islami will raise its voice on them,” he said.
Baloch said the Chief Election Commissioner had completed his term and also completed a two-year extension in service. He said the matter of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and two members had still not been resolved.
He said the government’s stubbornness was in place, but the opposition leader should also come forward and play his role.
The JI Naib Ameer said ad hocism should end and electoral reforms were necessary in the country. He said the Speaker of the National Assembly should keep electoral reforms in view, adding that Jamaat-e-Islami’s reforms on proportional representation should also be included.
Liaqat Baloch said Islamabad’s local government elections had been postponed five times, while the nomination paper fee had also been taken. He said the Chief Election Commissioner had stated that the amount would be returned.
He added that the tenure of local governments should also be determined.
