ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday decided to summon the interior minister over delay in the provision of town corporation maps, demarcation of town corporations, related maps and details of amendments in the ICT Local Government Ordinance.
An ECP five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the case regarding the delay in holding local government elections in Punjab and Islamabad.
The Punjab chief secretary, local government secretary, ministry of interior additional secretary and Islamabad chief commissioner appeared before the commission.
In the Islamabad Local Government case, the ECP was informed that the electoral body had sent three letters to the interior secretary, requesting the demarcation of town corporations, number of union councils in each town corporation, provision of town corporation maps and necessary amendments to the ordinance.
The ECP bench was told that the Interior Ministry did not respond to these letters. In response, the Islamabad chief commissioner informed the commission that he had not received any such letter. It was also noted that instead of the interior secretary, the additional secretary appeared before the ECP. The additional secretary stated that the secretary was attending a meeting under the prime minister.
The ECP took strict notice of the interior secretary’s failure to respond to the three letters and ordered that a notice be issued to him, asking why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him. Moreover, the forum decided that the interior minister should appear in person at the next hearing.
The Islamabad chief commissioner assured the commission that he would provide the maps of town corporations within a week. The ECP has set a deadline of March 12, 2026, for the provision of these maps. The case was adjourned until Tuesday, March 10.
Regarding the local government polls in Punjab, the Punjab chief secretary informed the electoral body that the provincial government has provided the Local Government Delimitation Rules and the Demarcation Order, which contain the number of union councils in town corporations, municipal corporations, municipal committees and tehsil councils. He assured that the maps and other data would be provided to the ECP by March 12, and that the provincial government would soon issue a notification on additional election rules.
The ECP ordered its office to immediately issue the delimitation schedule as soon as the provincial government provides the maps.
It was further directed that if the provincial government fails to provide the maps by March 12, the ECP should summon the division-wise deputy commissioners on a daily basis starting from March 13. This would allow them to provide the maps directly to the commission, so that the delimitation schedule can be issued without further delay.
