Islamabad (Web Desk): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday rejected the Sindh government's request and announced that the local government (LG) polls will be held on January 15 as per the schedule.
According to details, The decision was taken by the ECP members during a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja at its headquarters in Islamabad.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in Sindh, in a surprise late-night move, had postponed the local bodies elections due to reservations of its coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) over existing delimitations.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Friday announced that the local government elections will not be held in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Dadu as per scheduled for January 15.
In a press conference, Memon said that the decision was taken after the Sindh government withdrew the notification regarding the delimitations of the constituencies in Karachi as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has reservations over it.
On Monday, the ECP ruled that the local bodies elections in Karachi and Hyderabad will be held as per schedule on January 15.
A 3-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the earlier reserved verdict on the petition filed by the MQM challenging the decision of the electoral body for the prospective use of two separate electoral rolls in the upcoming elections simultaneously.
The ECP rejected the plea, directing the Sindh government to complete arrangements for the elections, adding that the chief secretary and the law-enforcement agencies should also ensure that the elections were held as per the schedule and on the previous voter list.
The ECP had scheduled the second phase of local government polls in Sindh 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 for the same reason.
On October 18, the ECP rescheduled the elections for October 23, but the provincial government sought their postponement for three months.
Later, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and 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.