SHC rejects plea to delay local government elections in Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday rejected a plea from major political parties in the province to delay the local government elections, ARY NEWS reported.

The SHC while rejecting the plea to halt elections scheduled in the province in two phases on June 26 and July 24 directed the ECP to hold the polls as per the schedule.

During the hearing, Justice Junaid Ghaffar asked the ECP counsel why elections were delayed beyond a mandatory 120-day period. “Census and delimitation process led to the delay and as soon as the government approved the 2017 census we initiated the election process,” he said.

He added that local government elections have already been conducted in KP and Balochistan provinces while the process is being delayed in Punjab owing to court orders and ordinances.

“The first phase of polls in Sindh will be on Sunday and preparations are also completed for the second phase scheduled in July,” he said.

He further clarified that the voter list for the local government elections has been frozen and the provisional list is only being prepared for the general elections.

It is pertinent to mention here that the top political parties in the Sindh province have agreed to ask the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay local government (LG) elections in the Sindh.

The political parties that have agreed to extend local government elections included Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

The consensus among the parties has emerged during a meeting of the steering committee on changes in local government act in the province. “The recommendations of the committee will be forwarded to the ECP in the next 48 hours,” they said.