The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has annulled the Islamabad Local Governance Ordinance 2021, ordering the authorities to hold elections under the Local Government Act 2015.
IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ruled in favour of petitions which had been filed by former Union Council (UC) chairman Sardar Mehtab, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) trade union and CDA Officers Association.
The ordinance, which had been promulgated by President Arif Alvi, was challenged in court through various petitions which had argued that it would weaken the power of elected officials in the local government.
The petitioners argued that the direct election of the mayor and the removal of the deputy mayor post, as directed by the ordinance, was unconstitutional.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) promulgated the ordinance after the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) completed its five-year tenure in February 2021. Pakistan Muslim Legaue-N (PML-N) had won the last local government elections held in 2015.
Workers of the CDA, as well members of different trade unions, held a protest against the ordinance in December 2021, saying that the ordinance would ruin 'a beautiful city like Islamabad'.
The PTI's repeated use of presidential ordinances has already raised concerns this year, when controversial amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) ordinance were promulgated by President Alvi. Critics of the ordinance said that the President had bypassed legislative procedure to implement an ordinance to curb dissent.
IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ruled in favour of petitions which had been filed by former Union Council (UC) chairman Sardar Mehtab, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) trade union and CDA Officers Association.
The ordinance, which had been promulgated by President Arif Alvi, was challenged in court through various petitions which had argued that it would weaken the power of elected officials in the local government.
The petitioners argued that the direct election of the mayor and the removal of the deputy mayor post, as directed by the ordinance, was unconstitutional.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) promulgated the ordinance after the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) completed its five-year tenure in February 2021. Pakistan Muslim Legaue-N (PML-N) had won the last local government elections held in 2015.
Workers of the CDA, as well members of different trade unions, held a protest against the ordinance in December 2021, saying that the ordinance would ruin 'a beautiful city like Islamabad'.
The PTI's repeated use of presidential ordinances has already raised concerns this year, when controversial amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) ordinance were promulgated by President Alvi. Critics of the ordinance said that the President had bypassed legislative procedure to implement an ordinance to curb dissent.