Hafiz Naeem demands ECP to announce LG by-polls schedule

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announce the schedule for local government (LG) elections for the remaining 11 union committees (UCs) in Karachi, ARY News reported on Saturday.  

According to details, the JI Karachi chief issued the demand while addressing a protest, staged outside the provincial Election Commission office in Karachi.

Hafiz Naeem noted that the local government (LG) elections were held in the city on January 15 but the ECP is yet to announce the poll schedule for the 11 UCs where elections had been postponed because of the candidates’ deaths.

He also reiterated the JI’s demand that the ECP decide the cases of six UCs, declaring them open-and-shut cases on the basis of Form 11 and Form 12.

“JI has represented the people of Karachi as not a single party was in favour of holding elections at the local level,” he said, warning that his party would to launch a train march if its demands are not met.

Hafiz Naeem also urged JI’s newly elected local representatives to start serving the city, adding that his party would continue its struggle in accordance with the Constitution and Law.

Karachi LG polls

Earlier in January, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) released the official results of 229 out of 235 Union Councils (UCs) in the Karachi Division.

According to the latest party position, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lost one seat each while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) bagged two more seats after the recounting of votes in different UCs.

Read More: Karachi mayor: Hafiz Naeem urges PTI, PPP, other parties to build consensus

PPP is still having the highest count of seats, 91, followed by JI possessing 85 and PTI with 42 seats.

Furthermore, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) grabbed 7 seats, three seats by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), three by independent candidates and two by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

Hyderabad results

The commission also released the LG results of 155 UCs of Hyderabad.

PPP is leading with 95 seats, PTI with 40 seats, independent candidates with 15 seats and TLP with 2 seats, whereas, the results of two UCs were held due to the violation of the election code.

In Hyderabad, elections were not held in five UCs due to the demise of candidates.

Yesterday, the election commissioner (EC) Sindh said that the election of Karachi mayor is likely to take two to three months as the commission is still compiling the final results of the Sindh local government (LG) polls.