Sindh asks for holding Karachi LG polls in two phases

KARACHI. The Sindh government has once again sent a request to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to either postpone the local government (LG) polls in Karachi for three months or hold polls in the city in two phases. The Sindh government sent the request after the ECP’s latest decision to reject the government’s request to delay the local government elections and by-polls in different constituencies.

The Sindh government’s latest correspondence with the ECP suggested that local government polls could be held in three districts of Karachi in the first phase. The local government polls in the remaining four districts of Karachi could be held in the second phase.

The Sindh government suggested that conduct of the local government elections in two phases would allow the provincial authorities to ensure peaceful and transparent conduct of polls within available resources. The correspondence mentioned that a large number of police personnel had been busy in flood relief activities and they couldn’t be spared immediately for poll-related duties.

The correspondence was sent by the Services, General Administration, and Coordination Department of the Sindh government to the Provincial Election Commissioner, Sindh. To review the security and other arrangements related to the by-elections in NA-237 Malir and NA-239 Korangi, an important meeting was held in the Sindh Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sindh Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput on Thursday.

In the meeting, Provincial Election Commissioner Aijaz Anwar Chohan, Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Sindh Ali Asghar Sial, Secretary Home Saeed Ahmed Mangrejo, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon, IGP Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon, Additional IGP Karachi Javed Alam Odhu, Secretary School Education Ghulam Akbar Laghari, Secretary College Education Khalid Haider Shah and others participated. Addressing the meeting, Chief Secretary Sindh Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput said that by-elections will be held in NA-237 Malir and NA-239 Korangi on Sunday, October 16, for which all arrangements have been made. He said that CCTV cameras will be installed at the polling stations. Chief Secretary Sindh directed commissioner Karachi and concerned deputy commissioner to visit all the polling stations themselves and review the arrangements.

According to the Provincial Election Commission spokesperson, the Provincial Election Commissioner, Aijaz Anwar Chohan, in the meeting, highlighted that the best arrangements were made by the provincial government on NA-245, now arrangements were being made on NA-237 and NA-239 as well.

Chohan said that he held a meeting with the leaders of all the political parties and they assured the commission that they would follow the code of conduct. However, if any violation was observed, strict action will be taken against the violators.

In the meeting, IGP Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon, while giving a briefing on the security plan, said the security plan for the by-elections in Korangi and Malir has been prepared, which has also been shared with the election commission. On the occasion, the Provincial Election Commissioner instructed the law enforcement agencies to take every possible step for the conduct of peace by-polls in NA-237 and NA-239.

According to the polling scheme, as many as 11 candidates, including 5 independents, will be contesting the by-poll from NA-237. A total of 194 polling stations, which include 748 polling booths, have been established. Likewise, 295,699 voters, including 128,786 females and 165,913 male, will use their right to vote in NA-237. Similarly, the election commission has set up 340 polling stations with 1,360 polling booths in NA-239.In the by-election from NA-239, around 22 candidates are in the running.