MQM-P demands CEC to remove Sindh election commissioner

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has demanded the chief election commissioner (CEC) to remove the Sindh EC, citing sources, ARY News reported on Monday.

Sources told ARY News that the MQM-P delegation held discussions with the CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) headquarters in Islamabad today.

The delegation members include MQM-P convenor Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Dr Farooq Sattar, Aminul Haque and others.

The political party discussed its reservations on the new delimitations including the constituencies in Karachi’s Malir, Keamari, Baldia and Korangi.

The MQM-P delegation also raised objections to merging rural and urban areas in several Sindh cities including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas and Nawabshah.

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MQM-P leaders demanded CEC to take suo-motu action on the objections raised to the new delimitations. They also demanded CEC to remove the Sindh election commissioner and expressed lack of confidence on him ahead of the general elections.

Sources added that MQM-P decided to approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to challenge the new constituency list issued by the ECP.

The CEC assured MQM-P delegation of addressing the complaints at the earliest.

On Dec 1, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the final constituency list containing the number of National Assembly (NA) and the Provincial Assembly (PA) seats.

The ECP spokesperson said in a statement that two special tribunals wrapped up 1,324 objections to the delimitations. There will be 266 NA and 593 PA seats across Pakistan.