ECP pushes ahead with LG poll preps despite Sindh govt, MQM’s reservations

As the Sindh government and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) mull on their next move after the top poll body announced to press ahead with Sunday’s local government elections in Sindh’s major urban centers, preparations for the polls continue unabated in the city.

The Karachi district administration has begun providing election Materials to different polling stations and deployed a heavy contingent of law enforcement agencies in different polling stations.

Separately, the Sindh education department has decided to follow directions issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

In this regard, they have announced a holiday in schools of Karachi and Hyderabad to make them available for creation of polling stations.

The Sindh education department in a notification on Friday said that they have completed their preparations for the upcoming polls scheduled to be held on Sunday, January 15, in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Thatta.

It is pertinent to mention here that MQM-P had expressed its reservation on holding local bodies polls, disputing the delimitations.

Afterwards, the Sindh government wrote to ECP to stop the LG polls, noting that it had exercised its rights under Section 10-I of the Sindh Local Government Act 2013, to withdraw a notification for the previous delimitations. Consequently, the Sindh government in one stroke eliminated all constituencies for local government elections.

However, ECP turned down the Sindh government’s request and directed to organize LG polls on January, 15.