ISLAMABAD: During Wednesday’s hearing of the case relating to the holding of local government elections, the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not yet ready to hold the polls and that the provincial government was still debating over a date, DawnNews reported.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case today.
Meanwhile, the administrations of Punjab and Balochistan said they had made preparations for the polls and were ready to hold the elections by Dec 7. Whereas, the Sindh government said it was ready to hold the elections on Nov 27.
On the contrary, Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abdul Lateef Yousufzai informed the court that KP was still debating over a date for the elections and that preparations in this regard were not complete.
Earlier on Monday, Yousufzai had informed the court that an amended law had been tabled in the KP provincial assembly with regard to the local government polls and that it would be adopted this week. He had said that delimitation had been delayed in the province because KP law minister Israrullah Gandapur, who was overseeing the entire process, was recently killed in a suicide attack. But delimitation has now been completed, Yousufzai had said during Monday’s hearing of the case.
Also during today’s hearing, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Shah Khawar said a draft had been prepared by the federal government in relation to the holding of municipal elections in Islamabad. However, a date had not yet been decided, said Khawar.
The chief justice said all provinces were ready to hold the polls except KP and also emphasised that the court had high expectations from the federal government over the holding of municipal elections in Islamabad.
