Local govt by-elections in Karachi today to fill 10 vacant seats

Preparations have been made for the local body by-elections in six districts of Karachi that will be held from 8am till 5pm today (Thursday) without any break.

Officials said the by-elections would be held for a total of four vacant seats of chairman, two for vice-chairman and four for ward councillor seats in the six districts of Karachi. In District Malir, polling would be held for the seat of chairman in Bakhtawar UC-9 and councillor seat in Ibrahim Hyderi UC-7.

In the Korangi district, polling would be held for the seat of chairman in Model Colony UC-7, for vice-chairman in Landhi UC-6 and ward councillor in Korangi UC-7. Apart from this, polling would be held for the seat of ward councillor in Manghopir UC-5 in District West and for the seat of chairman in Saddar UC-13 of District South.

In District Central, the by-polls would be held for the post of chairman in Liaquatabad UC-7 and vice-chairman in Gulberg UC-5. In District Keamari, residents of a ward in Baldia UC-10 would elect their councillor.

Of the total 167 polling stations in Karachi, 136 have been declared highly sensitive in terms of security. A total of 26 polling stations have been declared sensitive and the remaining five have been categorised as normal. CCTV cameras have been installed at the most sensitive polling stations. A total of 16 to 18 police personnel have been deployed at each of the highly sensitive polling stations and 8 to 12 police personnel at the sensitive polling stations.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon said that necessary steps had been taken so that the safety of life and property of the citizens could be ensured during the by-elections.

He said the Sindh Rangers and other law enforcement agencies should be in constant touch for smooth conduct of the local government by-polls. The security plan prepared for the local bodies by-elections should be strictly implemented in a coordinated manner, the IGP maintained.

The provincial police chief said measures should be taken under the principles laid down by the Election Commission of Pakistan for candidates and voters. Meanwhile, Karachi Additional IG Javed Alam Odho presided over a meeting at the Karachi Police Office on security arrangements for the by-elections. The meeting was attended by the three Range DIGs of East, West and South, district SSPs and other police officers. The meeting reviewed the arrangements for the by-elections. The police chief issued orders to ensure law and order in the city.

JI wants Rangers

Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Monem Zafar has demanded of the authorities to declare all polling stations very sensitive and deploy Rangers at all of them to minimize the chances of rigging in by-polls.

Addressing a press conference at the JI headquarters Idara-e-Noor-e-Haq, he said the Pakistan Peoples Party government in Sindh was mulling to rig the by-elections. He said that out of a total of 166 polling stations, 136 have been declared sensitive, and 26 very sensitive. He was of the view that the nature of all the polling stations was very sensitive so all of them should be dealt with accordingly.

Zafar claimed that it was an open secret how the PPP rigged the elections in 2023 as it was quite normal for the party leadership. He said that both in the local government and general elections, the PPP secured its position by heavily rigging the results documents.

Highlighting the pre-poll rigging measures, he mentioned the Elections Act 2017 as stating that at least one address — either permanent or temporary — should fall in the relevant electoral constituency.

However, he maintained, the Election Commission of Pakistan moved some 2,080 votes to UC 7 of Liaquatabad despite the fact that none of the voters belonged to the UC, neither permanently or temporarily. Ironically, all the voters were shifted to a blockcode, which consisted of over 9,000 votes. He elaborated that usually a blockcode consisted of 600 to 1,100 votes.

In another pre-poll rigging attempt and clear violation of the constitution and the law, Zafar said, three polling stations of a neighborhood had been established some 1.5 kilometres out of the locality.

Further elaborating his viewpoint, he referred to the local government ordinance that ensures easy access to polling stations for the voters and said the polling stations in model town were established 1.5km away despite the fact that several governmental schools were already available in the area. Similarly, clerical staff and even gatekeepers from the Korangi DMC were appointed as polling staffers in a union council of model town, he said, adding that the JI has written letters and asked the authorities to take notice of the situation in order to avoid any unpleasant situation.

He further said the JI has closely been monitoring appointments of ghost staffers and other pre-poll rigging attempts. He said the JI would not only expose the PPP government but also take all the necessary steps against rigging of elections and theft of mandate.

He appealed to Karachiites to come out overwhelmingly to vote for the symbol “scale”.Highlighting the contribution of the JI for the mega city, he said the JI has a legacy of serving Karachi and Karachiites. During the past one year, he said, the JI has restored 120 parks, upgraded 32 public sector schools, restored play grounds and installed thousands of street lights.