ISLAMABAD: On Feb 14, the tenure of the only working local government in the federal capital is scheduled to expire.
This would come to an end the short six-week term of Pir Adil Shah Gilani in power, who was confirmed as a returning candidate in the Mayor’s Office election on 31 December 2020, following Sheikh Anser Aziz’s sudden resignation in October.
Dawn was told by a senior official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that local government elections had been held in the capital territory on 30 November 2015.
He said that under Section 29(1) of the Islamabad Local Government Act, the local government’s five-year term began on the day it had its first meeting. He said that on Feb 15, 2016, the first meeting took place.
Administrator may be appointed until new LG assumes office, says official
He claimed that, according to Section 29(3) of the Act, when the term of office of the local government ends, the government may appoint an administrator to carry out the duties of the local government before the elected local government takes office for a period not exceeding six months.
He claimed that communication with the government for the provision of the revised Local Government Act, laws, related notices and maps had been made to carry out delimitation in the federal capital.
He claimed that the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior told the ECP on 2 February that a letter had already been written to Chief Commissioner Islamabad asking the Commission’s field office to provide the necessary details.
With respect to the delimitation based on the provisional results of the 2017 population census, he claimed that the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2015 does not call for delimitation to be carried out on the basis of the provisional results of the 2017 census.
He said an ECP meeting on Feb 11 will take up the topic of the LG polls in Islamabad. He said notifications were being given to the federal government to assist the commission on the problem through the Attorney General for Pakistan and the Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister.
Under the terms of the constitution, the new mayor may hold the post only for the unexpired portion of his predecessor.
In 2015, parliament passed a specific law for the first time to set up the Islamabadad Metropolitan Corporation (MCI).
But MCI’s history has not gone down well, as an endless conflict about the allocation of powers has continued between the mayor and the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
The IMC has not been able to live up to the demands applied to it because of this tug of war.
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