Sindh govt’s decision turned down; LB polls to be held on Jan 15: ECP

ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (SABAH): The Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to complete the second phase of local bodies polls in Sindh on January 15 while rejecting the Sindh government’s request to postpone the elections.

This decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja in Islamabad on Friday. The ECP took stock of the situation after the provincial government’s announcement. The meeting also took stock of the situation that may erupt after the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.

The meeting was attended by chief election commissioner, members, special secretary, DG Law, DG local government elections and other senior officers.

ECP also expressed concerns over government of Sindh’s act of delaying local bodies’ polls to be held on January 15.

In the meeting, it was discussed that the federal or the provincial governments were not serious in holding local bodies’ polls. All the responsibility of amending local bodies’ law of Islamabad was transferred towards ECP. All the arrangements of holding LB polls in Sindh were complete but this act (of delaying tactics) was committed just ahead of two days.

It is worth mentioning here that Sindh government decided to not hold LB polls in Karachi, Hyderabad and Dadu on January 15 whereas Jamaat-e-Islami announced to hold sit-in on the decision of the Sindh government.