RAWALPINDI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday responded to the criticism levelled by the Punjab government over the issue of preliminary delimitations in Rawalpindi and said the delimitation exercise was done in accordance with the law.

In a statement, the ECP pointed out that under Section 10 of the Punjab Local Government Act, it was for the provincial government to determine the threshold of the population in union councils, which had been set to be 25,000.

According to law, revenue of ficials and administrative officers were bound to provide the necessary support to the committees and authorities in the process of delimitation. After the publication of lists under Section 223, local residents and voters of the constituency have the right to file objections to the preliminary delimitation.

Under Section 10 of the local government act, it was the job of the government of Punjab to fix the average threshold of the population with regard to the UCs. The government fixed the population threshold at an average of 25,000 residents. The spokesman said that the Election Commission cannot increase or decrease the number of UCs and added that the delimitation exercise was conducted as per the provincial and federal laws.

About the increase in Rawalpindi`s union councils, the total population of Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC)is 19,58,374, on the basis of which, the commission carved out 78 UCs. Similarly, the urban population of the district council was 296,776 which consisted of 12 union councils. Apart from this, the population of District Council Rural was 1,407,157 which consisted of 58 UCs. As far as rural areas are concerned, Tehsil Rawalpindi City has a population of 15,208 while Tehsil Cantt has a population of 9,964 both have been given one union council each.

Under Section 10 of the LG act, delimitation of constituencies is the sole responsibility of the Election Commission, it said. `The objections on the delimitations can be made from January 9 to January 23, 2023. If anyone has objections to the initial delimitations, they can submit their objections to the delimitation authorities, the commission said. The ECP spokesperson said that the Election Commission `performs its work according to the constitution and law, so irresponsible statements should be avoided`.

As per the list of preliminary delimitations, the number of UCs in the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC)increased from 46 to 78 whereas the Rawalpindi district council`s UCsincreased from34 to 70 12 urban and 58 rural.

The new delimitationshave also changed the status of 24 rural UCs, including Morgah, Kotha Kalan, Shakrial, Khanna and others located along the Islamabad Expressway and Old AirportRoad.

On Sunday, Punjab government spokesperson Fayyazul Hasan Chohan rejected the notification issued by Election Commission and termed it mala fide. He had claimed that the UCs` number was increased to favour the Pakistan Democratic Movement government.