Provincial election commission of KP has suspended the process for second phase of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local bodies’ polls on the intervention of Peshawar High Court. Abbottabad bench of PHC gave directions to provincial election commission to suspend the 2nd phase polling process which was to be conducted on March 27th 2022.
“Under these circumstances, we are of the view that a fair, free and transparent election is not possible in the aforementioned areas,” the court order reads. The court further ordered that court was setting aside the ECP’s January 20 notification and directing the Chief Election Commissioner to reschedule the elections after Ramadhan 2022 or as and when the weather was normalized.
This PHC decision has not been taken well by various opposition parties. JI has announced to move to higher bench of PHC against this verdict by Abbottabad bench citing it as a violation of orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan. SC had ordered provincial governments to complete LB elections so that devolution of power can be ensured in letter and spirit.
The court ruled that the election could not be held in March due to cold weather and snowfall in mountainous areas. “Provincial government and the met department also issued a letter to the ECP in this regard,” the bench noted. It said that despite the report of the provincial government and the met department, ECP did not take any decisive action. The court ruled that the ECP had failed in its duty in this regard.
