ECP terms statements of politicians irresponsible regarding delimitations of Karachi & Hyderabad divisions, takes notice
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (SABAH): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken notice of what it said the irresponsible statements of various political leaders of political parties regarding delimitations of union councils in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions.
The Election Commission of Pakistan’s spokesperson, in a statement, said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khans statement was wrong and was tantamount to misleading the people.
“Rana Sanaullah’s statement shows that he has little knowledge of election laws. The ECP is fulfilling its constitutional and legal responsibilities in well mannered way.”
The ECP spokesperson said the commission had been accused of using old voter lists for local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, adding those allegations were baseless.
The spokesman explained that the provincial government, who was bound to provide exact number of union councils under the Section 10 of the Local Government Act 2013, provided the numbers of UCs of each district through the notification and the ECP performed the delimitations in all districts in a transparent manner and as per the law.
The ECP spokesperson said delimitation of constituencies in Sindh had no similarity with Islamabad as in Islamabad’s case, the number of UCs were increased during the election schedule only. The commission in the statement said that it had issued the schedule for the second phase of the local bodies’ elections of Sindh on 29th April 2022 and for this reason the old voter lists are being used in the LG polls. The ECP spokesperson has further clarified that voter listed published on 7th October 2022 will be used in the next general elections.
The ECP’s spokesperson said the commission was ready to hold elections in Islamabad in seven to 10 days.
Meanwhile Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that the establishment of local bodies in Karachi and Hyderabad is indispensable for democracy.
The Chief Election Commissioner in his message regarding the local government elections said that the people should express their confidence in democracy by being a part of the local government elections, and the law and order situation should be ensured in the local government elections.
He further said that any kind of interference in the election process will not be tolerated, evil elements will be dealt with strictly, law enforcement agencies will fulfill the trust during the election process.