Rain situation in Sindh to be monitored before LG polls, says election commissioner

Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan said on Saturday that he has received the latest information from the meteorological department, according to which rainwater is still accumulated in various areas of Hyderabad.

Addressing a news conference at the election commission’s Karachi office, Chauhan said that various localities are inundated in Matiari, Dadu, Badin, Thatta and Sujawal, while the coastal belt is also affected.

He said that in the rain-affected areas, the polling stations that were set up for the local government elections have also been affected. Even a number of vicinities in Karachi, including Malir, Lyari, Kharadar and Mithadar, have been affected by the recent monsoon showers, he added.

The election commissioner said he has received situation reports from Hyderabad’s commissioner and deputy commissioners. “If there’s any rain forecast for next week, the officials of the commission will analyse the situation on August 23 and 24 to send a detailed report to the Islamabad office.”

Reacting to Senator Farogh Naseem’s statement, Chauhan said Naseem had levelled false allegations against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). “I strongly deny the allegations of Farogh Naseem. There’s no truth in what he said.”

The election commissioner explained that delimitations are carried out in accordance with the law, and there is a procedure for delimitations in the Sindh Local Government Act, and its rules.

He said that preliminary preparations for delimitations were carried out by the Sindh government under Section 10 since it was the responsibility of the provincial government to categorise urban and rural areas.

He added that it is the responsibility of the provincial government to determine the number of seats in any council, and the officers of the ECP demarcate union, municipal and town committees.

JI warns against delay

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has made it clear that neither the party will make any compromise nor 30 million Karachiites will tolerate any further delay in the local government elections.

“Despite the Election Commission of Pakistan’s final announcement for the local government polls on August 28 and the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s decision in its favour, some political parties still illogically desire to get the polls further delayed,” said Rehman while addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq on Saturday.

He was flanked by JI leaders Osama Razi, Raja Arif Sultan, Engr Saleem Azhar, Zahid Askari and others. Rehman said some ruling parties were participating in polls in National Assembly constituencies with fervour and zeal but they were afraid of the local government elections and wanted an escape route.

He further said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had stabbed 30 million Karachiites by notifying and legalizing flawed results of the last national census and by extending the quota system for an indefinite period.

He said that the fresh census would only be accepted if it was done under the de facto formula and not under the de jure one. People should be counted in the city they lived in, he said.

Talking about the current scenario, he said that the roads network in Karachi had totally collapsed as there was not a single road in the city, parts of which were not broken. The citizens were kept deprived of basic facilities while the political administrator sticking illegally to his seat was unable to do anything except lip service.

Rehman further said that the JI had fought the case of Karachi and Karachiites on all available forums. The JI had served the city in the past and would do so in letter and spirit if elected in the local bodies elections.

He also talked about the Karachi Rights March and said that the party was taking out the march on August 21 (today) for the rights of Karachi and Karachiites. It was aimed at voicing the demands of the city, he said and appealed to the masses to join the march on University Road.