Petition in SHC seeks local bodies' elections without further ado

KARACHI: A petition seeking directives for the Sindh government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local bodies’ elections in the province without delay was filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC).

The petition said the local bodies all over the province have completed their tenure yet mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen of union councils and others have been discharging their duties in utter disregard for the country’s constitution.

It claimed local government elections are not being conducted deliberately and pleaded with the court to order the electoral body to hold elections at the earliest.

The Sindh government, the commission, secretaries of the local government and finance departments and others have been named respondents in the petition.

In a tweet on Jan 17,  Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had said the Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) will file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the local government system of Sindh province.

کل وزیراعظم کی سربراہی میں کور کمیٹی کے اجلاس میں فیصلہ کیا گیا کے تحریک انصاف سپریم کورٹ میں سندھ کے مقامی حکومت کے نظام کے خلاف اپیل دائر کرے گی کیونکہ یہ قانون آئین کے مطابق عوام کو مقامی سطح پر سیاسی، انتظامی اور مالی طور پر با اختیار نہیں کرتا

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) January 17, 2020

The decision was taken in the party’s core committee meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, adding the decision was taken because the law doesn’t empower the people financially, politically and administratively.