Pakistan's President returns Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill unsigned

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 1 (ANI): Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Sunday returned the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022, unsigned in terms of clause (1) (b) of Article 75 of the Constitution, accusing the federal government of "malafide actions" and observing that it would further delay the local government elections, according to a report in The Express Tribune.
The report also stated, "The president returned the Bill days after the Senate had passed it after Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had hurriedly summoned a session of the upper house of the parliament last Friday on the government's requisition when President Alvi had refused to do so."
President Alvi while sending back the Bill said, "Actions of the Federal Government taken in hurry resulted in delaying [the] election process twice, which was anathema to democracy."
He said that the elections in Islamabad could not be held due to the Federal Government's malafide actions.
Alvi said that the Election commission of Pakistan announced elections for local government in Islamabad on July 31, after the completion of the delimitation of 50 Union Councils.
Despite [the] announcement of [the] polling date, the government increased the number of union councils from 50 to 101, resulting in [the] postponement of elections, Alvi said, according to The Express Tribune.
The Express Tribune report said, "After the demarcation of 101 UCs, Alvi maintained, the ECP decided to hold elections in Islamabad on December 31, 2022. However, he added, Section 2 of the current Bill provides for 125 UCs in the federal capital and, therefore, elections scheduled for 31st December 2022 have again been postponed."
Alvi said that the mode of elections of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor has been changed after the announcement of the schedule of elections, as per Section 3 of the current Bill.
The bill was passed by the Pakistan Government with the aim of delaying the Islamabad LG polls. The government dodged the president's refusal to summon the Senate session.
The Islamabad High Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local government elections in Islamabad on December 31 and set aside its notification on the postponement of the polls, the Dawn reported.

The report said, "The verdict was pronounced by IHC Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, who was hearing identical petitions filed by the PTI and the Jamaat-i-Islami against the ECP's decision announced earlier this week."
The Islamabad High Court, in an order issued on Friday, set aside ECP's order dated December 27.
"The Election Commission of Pakistan is directed to hold the local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory as per the schedule already announced i.e. on 31.12.2022," the IHC order read.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday called the election commission's failure to conduct the Islamabad local body polls an 'open contempt' of the court's Friday order, reported The Express Tribune. (ANI)