Daily Times Editorial Nov 9, 2013

LG elections conundrum The Local Government (LG) elections ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) are becoming more and more controversial. On Thursday, a consensus emerged across the aisle in the National Assembly (NA) to not hold elections that would suffer from inadequate preparation and may end up becoming less than credible if not engender the usual round of accusations and counter-accusations that the process had been non-transparent if not rigged. Although the unanimous resolution of the NA to delay the LG elections until preparations were completed satisfactorily is not binding, it does reflect the misgivings of the political class as a whole that the SC's insistence on holding these elections on November 7 in Sindh and December 7 in Punjab and Balochistan, over and above the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP’s) reservations regarding printing the millions of ballot papers required and delimitation of constituencies, may lead to a great deal of ruction if a flawed election process is conducted. While it is understandable that the SC’s insistence is rooted in the sorry track record of political governments in holding LG elections in the past, making haste now despite the obvious obstacles to a credible and transparent process does not inspire confidence. Underlying the NA resolution, and reflected in the speeches made on the floor during discussion on the issue, is parliament’s resentment of an overbearing and interventionist judiciary that has seen fit to venture into areas normally within the purview of the executive or parliament. Lest anyone conclude that the role of the superior judiciary in this matter is all controversy, the decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) overturning the intent of the Punjab government to hold LG elections on a non-party basis, is a clear verdict upholding the LHC’s interpretation of the relevant Articles of the constitution that militate in favour of political parties-based local elections. However, the SC is seen as leaning on the ECP to hold the elections in November/December come hell or high water, and in turn the ECP is leaning on the Sindh and Punjab governments to complete the delimitations, etc, in time. The federal government, in the person of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, has also expressed the difficulties in printing the required ballot papers by the Printing Corporation of Pakistan within the 20-25 days available, while the NA opinion tilted in the direction of rejecting any attempt to farm this task out to private printing presses as this could not be considered free of the apprehension of mistakes and even deliberate manipulation. Ishaq Dar said it was not appropriate for the executive to get involved in having the ballot papers printed as this may give rise to controversies regarding the transparency and accuracy of the process. If all this were not enough, nine parties in the Balochistan Assembly want the ‘bogus’ voters lists used for the May general elections revised by the ECP, failing which the LG elections would not reflect the will of the people. The above iteration of the controversy surrounding the LG elections is enough to make one’s head spin. The whole furore owes its origins to the insistence of the SC on holding the elections irrespective of the problems pointed out by the ECP, the NA, and the federal government. Sympathy for the consideration of the SC that neither the ECP nor the politicians should be allowed to once again ‘sabotage’ the holding of local bodies elections cannot and should not blind us to the possibility that elections held without proper preparation and in haste despite all the roadblocks could end up with a whimper rather than a bang. There is no denying the necessity and importance of having elected local bodies as the lowest rung of the democratic edifice, but that rung must be seen to have been constructed transparently and credibly according to the provisions of the constitution, law and best democratic practice. Falling short on these standards would not lend credence to any local bodies that may emerge as a result of a flawed process. It is still not too late for the state’s institutions, the executive, parliament and the judiciary to put their heads together and sort out the anomalies in the present plan. The heavens will not fall if the local bodies are elected a few months later, provided that in the process all the wrinkles in the process are ironed out.