ECP establishes 1,039 polling stations for Islamabad LG elections

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set up 1,039 polling stations in Islamabad to ensure the convenience of voters and better turnout on polling day.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 3,088 polling booths have also been set up for the Islamabad Local Government (LG) elections to be held on December 31, 2022.

The ECP already appointed 15 Monitoring Officers headed by a District Monitoring Officer to ensure close monitoring of canvassing of all candidates and take necessary action against violators.

The monitoring teams have so far removed posters and banners of various prohibited sizes from councils 36,37, 41,42,47,48 and 130.

1,000,155 registered voters including 0.5 million 526,138 male and 0.4 million 474,017 female voters will exercise their right to vote in the local elections in the federal capital.

The Election Commission had issued a schedule to hold local body elections in Islamabad on December 31, but later the federal government announced that the number of union councils in Islamabad was being increased from 101 to 125.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) filed a contempt of court petition against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Islamabad High Court  (IHC) on the issue of increasing the union councils of Islamabad, while the Muslim League-Nawaz had also approached the Islamabad High Court to stop the local body elections. .

In the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Ali Nawaz in the Islamabad High Court argued that the government’s decision to increase the number of USs in Islamabad from 101 to 125 is a violation of the court decision.

The PTI leader requested the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against PM Sharif on this initiative.

On the other hand, in the petition filed by Shahzad Aurangzeb, the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and candidate for the chairmanship in the local government elections, in the Islamabad High Court, a stand was taken to stop the local elections to be held in the federal capital on December 31.

It was argued in the petition that the number of union councils has been increased from 101 to 125 by the federal government, while the notification of the Election Commission was limited to 101 union councils. The election should be stopped according to the list.
The petition further stated that these 101 union councils no longer exist.

On the other hand, in the meeting presided over by the Chief Election Commissioner, the Election Commission decided not to postpone the municipal elections and said that the elections will be held on December 31. Municipal elections will be held on the scheduled date.

According to Election Commission sources, local elections will be held in 101 units under the old constituencies.

The Election Commissioner will review the government’s notification to increase the number of Union Councils (UCS) from 101 to 125 and take its decision.

The federal government had issued a notification to increase the number of union councils in Islamabad on May 21, 2022, after which the number of union councils was increased from 50 to 101. The government said that the number of union councils was increased in proportion to the representation of 20 thousand people.

In June this year, the Islamabad High Court, while accepting the requests of Nawaz League and People’s Party to stop the local elections in the federal capital, ordered that the Election Commission announce the election schedule by delimiting new constituencies within 65 days.

The then Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, Athar Minullah, gave this order while hearing the petition of Muslim League-Nawaz central leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.