ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (APP):The National Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2024 amid opposition of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) leading the opposition benches in the lower house of the Parliament.
Minister for Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar briefed the house that the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has unanimously approved the bill related to local body elections in the fe
deral capital
Senator Tarar added that he was a student of law and learning from the discourse of the Opposition measures. However, the modalities to conduct local body elections in the fe
deral capital was the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan, he added.
In response to the Speaker National Assembly’s request to clarify that there will be no obstacles in the local body polls, the Minister said, “I cannot say whether there will be an election or not. According to Ar
ticle 140-A of the Constitution, it is the job of the Election Commission to conduct elections.”
Member National Assembly (MNA), SIC, Mohammad Atif Khan said the fe
deral government had postponed local body elections in Islamabad several times. “An assurance should be obtained from the government that the local body elections will not be delayed any longer,” he added.
MNA, Pakistan Muslim L
eague-Nawaz (PML-N), Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said after
the 2015 local government elections in Islamabad, there were more problems and the issues remained unresolved. The government, he said intended to introduce the London model system of local government, adding, “to ensure that administrative affairs are conducted in the best manner in Islamabad as well.”
MNA SIC, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the Ar
ticle 140 of the Constitution mentions elections related to provinces, whereas the Constitution did not mention how elections would be held in the fe
deral capital.
MNA, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Dr Farooq Sattar appreciated the house members for shedding light on the Ar
ticle 140-A of the Constitution. He said the three major political parties in the National Assembly had governments in the provinces.
“The Supreme Court had ordered that the electoral laws in the provinces should be changed regarding local elections. However, according to the court order, the political parties in the four provinces have made electoral changes, whereas the electoral laws in the provinces were not changed under Ar
ticle 140 of the Constitution.” he added.
He queried that in the prevailing scenario in the provinces, why the amendments were made in the local government laws in the fe
deral capital?
