ECP rejects Sindh government plea, says local polls in Karachi, Hyderabad to go ahead per schedule

Tariq Butt, Correspondent 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected all pleas of the Sindh government to postpone the local elections in Karachi and Hyderabad and decided to go ahead with the exercise on Jan.15 (Sunday).

The ECP on Saturday said the local government polls in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on Sunday as per schedule, rejecting the demand of the Sindh government to postpone the over security threats to political leaders.

An official handout signed by the ECP spokesperson stated the ECP’s decision while directing the Sindh government to ensure "fool proof preparations for peaceful elections.”

Earlier, the Sindh government reiterated its request to the ECP, seeking a delay in the scheduled elections in Karachi and Hyderabad over "threats to various political leaders and workers of political parties” as warned by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

On Friday, the provincial government had announced that the long-awaited local body elections would not be held and the notification to hold the polls based on the existing delimitation had also been withdrawn on the demand of their "coalition partner,” the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

However, later, the ECP rejected the Sindh government’s request and ruled that the polls — which have been twice delayed — would be held on Jan.15 as scheduled.

The situation took an ugly turn when Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, soon after the ECP’s announcement, contended that the electoral body could not reject the provincial government’s decision to postpone local government elections in the two cities.

On Saturday, in a fresh letter to the Sindh election commissioner, the local government department said a meeting was held at the chief secretary’s office on Friday wherein "the law enforcement and intelligence agencies apprised the participants of the precarious law and order situation along with specific threats to various political leaders and workers of political parties.”

It also said that the Sindh cabinet had also expressed its concern with the non-availability of the Pakistan army and civil armed forces for static deployment at polling stations.

The letter said the meeting "corroborated the fear and apprehension of the government in view of the prevalent situation, there is a greater need for the presence of troops of Pakistan army and civil armed forces to be statically deployed at the polling stations.”

The Sindh government told the ECP it had already written to the Ministry of Interior about the provision of required security. The Government of Sindh reiterates the request that the second phase of local government elections to the extent of Karachi division & Hyderabad district be postponed till such time that the required security is available at the polling stations, the letter to the ECP reads.

Meanwhile, senior Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar called out the Sindh government for allegedly attempting to delay local elections in the provincial capital. "This imported government has turned Pakistan into a banana republic. At the rate they are going, we will soon be the biggest exporter of bananas in the world,” he scorned the government.

The second phase of local government elections in Sindh has been postponed twice already. The term of the local governments had expired on Aug.30, 2020 and the ECP was bound to hold elections within 120 days of this.

The electoral exercise was originally scheduled for July 24 but was postponed due to the unprecedented monsoon rains and flash flooding that inundated large parts of the province.

The ECP later rescheduled the local polls for Aug.28, but they were deferred again due to the flood situation and a shortage of police personnel in Karachi.

The Ministry of Interior had on Friday issued a notification authorising the "static deployment of Frontier Constabulary troops outside all highly sensitive and sensitive polling stations on Jan.15 in addition to already approved deployment of other forces.”

It also said the exact number of troops, date and area of deployment will be worked out by the ECP and other stakeholders in consultation with the FC authorities on the basis of on-ground requirements.