SC to take up plea seeking delay in K-P LG polls tomorrow

The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) petition for hearing against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) ruling postponing the second phase of the local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) scheduled to be held on March 27. The apex court bench will take up the plea tomorrow (Wednesday) after the ECP earlier today filed an appeal for the early hearing of the petition against the PHC verdict. On February 4, the PHC Abbottabad Bench had postponed the next phase of the LG elections, a decision that was welcomed by the Hazara Province Movement, which vowed to field candidates from every district and village council of the Hazara Division, including Battagram, Allai and Torghar. The high court had directed the electoral body to hold the elections after Ramazan, keeping in view the harsh weather forecast next month. The PHC Abbottabad bench released a written judgment on Friday in this regard. As per the judgment, the elections have been postponed till Ramazan and the polls have been cancelled in all 18 districts of the province. Also read: PHC decision to postpone LG polls welcomed The judgement further added that elections are not possible due to the weather conditions as the Met Office has issued a forecast of further rains and snowfall in the month of March. It said that the provincial government, as well as the Met Office, has sent a letter to the poll supervisory body but the ECP failed to take any concrete step in this regard, adding that the ECP has failed to fulfil its responsibilities as the elections would be held mostly in mountainous districts and the petitioners have pleaded that it is not possible for voters to go out of their homes due to the extreme cold and snow. The weather would cause problems for the election staff too so it is not possible to held elections in the mountainous districts of the province. The bench directed the ECP to issue a suitable date for polls after the holy month of Ramazan to save voters from difficulties due to extreme weather conditions.

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