ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing into the delay in holding local government (LG) polls in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), after the Minister for Interior could not attend the proceedings due to ill health.
Resuming the hearing in the case here, the five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, was informed that the interior minister was unable to attend the proceedings because he was indisposed and was accordingly exempted. However, the secretary interior attended the hearing and tendered an apology in relation to the ECP’s contempt notice.
In response to the contempt notice, the interior secretary tendered an apology and said that a draft notification regarding the Islamabad local government elections had been submitted to the cabinet for approval, and a response had been received from the Law Ministry in this regard. Following the apology, the CEC withdrew the notice and announced that a committee comprising EC and ICT officials would be formed in Islamabad.
The committee will be headed by the chief commissioner or DC, so that all the issues related to the LG polls can move in the right direction. He emphasised serious steps would be taken regarding the elections in Islamabad and Punjab, and there will be no further delay. The EC then adjourned the hearing on March 10.
