Election Commission of Pakistan decides to hold local govt polls in Karachi, Hyderabad divisions on January 15
ISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (SABAH): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced that local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions will be held on January 15, 2023. Chief Secretary Sindh, Inspector General of Police Sindh and Secretary Ministry of Interior have been asked to make necessary security arrangements till 15th January 2023 and it should be ensured that the LG polls are held in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions till 15th January 2023.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja and comprising Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Hassan Bharwana and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan issued the orders on a petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami. The electoral watchdog had earlier reserved its verdict on the plea on November 15.
Local government elections in the two divisions were originally scheduled for July 24, but have been put off thrice since then, primarily because of the Sindh government’s request that it didn’t have the required police officials, who were busy with flood relief operations.
The polls were first put off to Aug 28, then to Oct 23, and then indefinitely, before the Sindh government on Nov 10 said it had postponed the polls on its own for 90 days.
In the ruling issued on Tuesday, the ECP ordered the Sindh government, chief secretary, and inspector general of police to provide a sufficient number of security personnel for election duty at the polling stations, offices of district returning officers, returning officers (RO), polling staff, and transportation of polling material to and from the offices of the ROs.
“Further, the federal government through the Secretary of the Interior Ministry was directed to provide a sufficient number of security personnel from other law enforcement agencies,” it stated.