Zubair Qureshi
Though Islamabad Mayor’s election is less than a week away (Dec 28) yet candidates as well as the voters (Metropolitan Corporation’s members) and the public are showing little interest in the election process as the winning candidate will hold Mayor’s office for just six weeks.
The five-year term of the Mayor of Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) will expire on February 15, 2021. In October, this year the former Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz, belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had submitted his resignation.
Ansar Aziz was elected on February 15, 2016 for five-year tenure. He had taken oath on March 4. Following his resignation, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced to hold elections to fill the vacancy.
Meanwhile, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which is a majority party in the 77-member MCI has awarded ticket to Pir Adil Gillani who is the Chairman of the Union Council (UC) Barri Imam. The main opposition party in the MCI, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also fielded candidate for the office, namely Malik Sajjad Mehmood, Chairman of the UC G-10.
The PML-N however is facing internal differences as despite passage of the last date for withdrawal of papers, i.e. Dec 21, two other members of the PML-N — Sajid Abbasi and Zaheer Shah —are still in the race as they did not withdraw their nomination papers. Polling will take place on Dec 28 and the results would be announced on Dec 29.
With a view to ensuring that the polls are conducted fairly and in accordance with the law, the ECP has directed executive authorities not to use state resources to influence the elections in favour of a particular candidate or a political party.
The deputy mayors, aspirants for the post have been barred from the election process under the local government law. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Aamer Farooq has already rejected the petition, saying deputy mayors could not contest the election.
According to the judge, there were weaknesses in the local body system.
How could the court rectify it. Most powerful people are living in the federal capital but the city is still ignored, he said. The bench remarked that there should be a new model and separate assembly for Islamabad.
Islamabad’s Chief Commissioner is running the affairs of the city and has been given three posts, Justice Farooq observed. He expressed concerns over the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) role in this regard.
According to the new development, the three deputy mayors though they are out of the race yet they have been given voting rights. As a result, the PML-N has 48 members (voters) against the PTI’s 25.
