News
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
SC gives provinces 2 weeks for LG pollsStaff report
QUETTA: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Monday sought a report on local government elections in all the provinces and gave a two-weeks time to provinces to ensure conduct of these polls.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry chaired a three-member SC bench to hear a case regarding law and order situation in Balochistan.
During the proceedings, the bench asked the additional advocate generals (AAG) of all the four provinces about the holding of local government elections.
Responding to the court's query, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) AAG said that the province has completed all the preparations regarding the conduct of these elections.
On the other hand, the Sindh AAG told the court that amendments to the relative bill would be given final shape during the session of Sindh Assembly on the local bodies' elections.
The Punjab AAG informed the court that the recommendations have been finalised and sent to parliament. However, the Balochistan AAG informed the court that the provincial government would take up the matter of local government elections during the assembly session.
The SC bench, having heard the stance of all the AAGs, said that it was imperative to shift powers to grassroots level for maintaining peace and, therefore, all the provinces are given two weeks time to ensure the conduct of local government elections and present a complete report to the Supreme Court.
The SC had ordered in the past that local government (LG) elections in the country be held by September 15.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk