A meeting of the Election Commission under the Chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan was held Monday to discuss the proposed schedule for Local Government Elections in Punjab and Sind Provinces, reported Pakistan observer. Members of the Election Commission, Chief Secretary Sindh, Secretaries Local Government, Provincial Election Commissioners of Punjab and Sindh and officers of the Election Commission of Pakistan attended the meeting. The Chief Secretary Sindh, Secretary Local Government Punjab and other participants briefed the Commission on the preoccupation of Provincial and District Administration, who also perform duties of District Returning Officers/ Returning Officers; in rehabilitation of the flood affected people and the law and order situation in general and particularly in Muharram. Thought was given to the schedule submitted before the Apex Court in present scenario especially regarding the issues of rains and floods, Muharram, Hajj seasons, training of huge number of polling staff and updation/ printing of electoral rolls. It was also pointed out that almost all official buildings i.e. schools, hospitals etc. were occupied by the floodaffected people and could not be used as polling stations. The position adopted by the two Provinces clearly indicates that they are in no mood to devolve powers to the local level and are determined to thwart all attempts aimed at empowering people at gross-roots level. This is because most of the issues, except flood, would remain there for a long time and therefore, this effectively means avoiding the elections for an indefinite period. The Federal as well as Punjab and Sindh governments have so far aborted all attempts by the Supreme Court, which is focused on the issue of holding of LB polls and their attitude during the last two years is a clear pointer towards that. The Federal Government dodged elections in Islamabad by way of faulty legislation and Punjab and Sindh governments advance different excuses on different occasions to wriggle out of their responsibility to hold these polls. One can easily conclude that these governments are not sincere in devolving their administrative and financial powers to local level and are also apprehensive of emergence of opposition leadership in some pockets. This is despite the fact that LB system serves as anursery for grooming of political leadership and some of the leading figures of today got prominence due to their active role in local governments in the past. All political parties claim to be champions of democracy but it seems they believe in selective democracy and not an all inclusive.
pk.shafaqna.com
