ECP reserves verdict on the petition filed by MQM-Pakistan regarding dual electoral lists
ISLAMABAD, Jan 06 (SABAH): Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja said on Friday that the local body (LB) elections in Karachi will not be delayed in any case. CEC said it is the Election Commission of Pakistan’s job to conduct the polls. Meanwhile the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday reserved the verdict on the petition filed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) regarding dual electoral lists.
The CEC made the remarks during a hearing of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P)’s application regarding the objections to the voter lists in the Karachi municipal elections.
A three-member bench conducted the hearing of the plea under the chairmanship of CEC Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja pertaining to the dual electoral lists related to local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad.
During the hearing, the MQM-P lawyer objected that the use of the old voter list for elections is against the law.
CEC Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja stated that the party has been approaching courts even before this hearing and inquired “why doesn’t [the] MQM-P bring up all the issues at once?”
“If there is any other issue, bring it forward and we will decide together,” he remarked.
The CEC also stated that the MQM-Pakistan also contested the 2018 election and by-elections and that the LB polls are being held on the same lists on which it contested the previous elections.
In his remarks, the MQM-P’s counsel raised another objection and said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was incomplete on April 29, 2022.
Irked by the remark, Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja stated that there is no mention of the ECP being incomplete in the submitted application by the party. “Stick to the petition, don’t talk about other things. The elections will not be delayed in any case,” he added.
On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Sindh Fawzi Zafar requested the court to give him time till next week to give arguments on the application.
The electoral watchdog then terminated the Sindh government’s right to argue citing a lack of preparation.
While giving his arguments during the hearing, a representative of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) told the ECP that “every possible effort is being made to postpone the local government elections.” JI furthered that LG polls should be held on January 15.
In his remarks, Special Secretary ECP Zafar Iqbal took the stand that with “every passing day, people are eligible to vote, if MQM-P’s demands are accepted then the LB polls will never be held”.
Moreover, DG Law ECP requested to reject the application of the MQM-P and said that voter lists are updated with time. He furthered that it was also clear in the press release that the LB elections will be held on the old list, adding that the election schedule was never withdrawn.
Subsequently, the ECP reserved its decision on the petitions related to voter lists in the Karachi LB elections.
The ECP had told the Sindh government that the second phase of the local government polls in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on July 24, 2022, but then it postponed them because of torrential rains and subsequent floods in the province.
The electoral body rescheduled the LG elections for August 28, but they were put off again due to the same reason.
The commission had said that most of the polling stations had been rendered inaccessible for the voters.
On October 18 the ECP rescheduled the elections for October 23, but the provincial government sought their postponement for three months because it had deployed police in the flooded areas, due to which it was unable to provide the required level of security to the polling stations.
After the repeated delays, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) moved the Sindh High Court, which on November 15 instructed the ECP to announce the date for the LG elections within 15 days.
On November 22, the ECP announced January 15 as the new date.