ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's President Arif Alvi on Sunday refused to sign a bill that would raise the number of existing union councils in Islamabad, a move experts believe would further deepen the prevailing political crisis in the country. 

The president’s decision to return the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022 came a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to hold local government elections despite the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) orders and triggered a fresh round of litigation. 

The ECP and the government filed an intra-court appeal against the IHC ruling on Saturday morning, when the verdict required them to hold the elections. The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which Alvi is also a member of, announced it would file a contempt of court petition against the ECP for not holding elections despite the court’s order. 

“President Arif Alvi has returned unsigned the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in terms of clause (1) (b) of Article 75 of the Constitution,” Alvi's office said in a statement, adding the bill was returned as it would further delay the Local government elections. 

“Actions of the Federal Government taken in hurry resulted in delaying election process twice, which was anathema to democracy,” it said. 

After the completion of delimitation of 50 union councils, the ECP had announced local polls in Islamabad on July 31, but the federal government increased the number of union councils from 50 to 101, resulting in the postponement of the elections. 

On Dec 27, the ECP once again announced temporarily postponing the elections, citing a Dec 22 notification of the legislation to further increase the number of union councils in the federal capital. 

“After the demarcation of 101 Union Councils, ECP decided to hold elections in ICT on 31st December 2022. [But] Section 2 of the current Bill provides for 125 Union Councils in the ICT,” read the statement issued from Alvi's office. 

"Therefore, elections scheduled for 31st December 2022 have been again postponed." 

Analysts believe the move would further increase political instability in the country. 

Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), said the development would lead to further political turmoil and legal fight as both the government and the PTI have approached the court. 

“The matter will not stay in the high court and it will eventually go to the Supreme Court and the elections would take place as per the apex court’s decision,” Mehboob told Arab News. 

He said the government probably moved the notification to increase UCs to "sabotage" local government elections in Islamabad. 

“[Imran] Khan has also delayed these elections during his tenure as prime minister so this tussle between the federal government and the PTI will further destabilize the country,” Mehboob added. 

Former senator Sehar Kamran said the IHC decision to hold elections on Dec 31 was almost impossible to implement as there was not enough time for polls.