JI wants ECP to hold LG elections in Sindh immediately

JI wants ECP to hold LG elections in Sindh immediately

JI wants ECP to hold LG elections in Sindh immediately

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. Photo: File

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KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), reminding the body that it is responsible for holding local bodies elections within the stipulated time frame, says a press release.

In the letter, the JI leader demanded of the ECP to hold the local bodies elections immediately in Sindh. Engr Naeem asked the ECP to reject the “delaying tactics” by the provincial government in connection with the local bodies polls.

He also asked the ECP to hear the JI’s viewpoint in the next proceedings of the commission over local bodies elections in Sindh. He asked for permission to appear and sought further details about the next hearing.

We do believe that the ECP, by virtue of the Election Act 2017 and the framework described in the Constitution, is bound to timely hold local bodies elections, the JI leader wrote in the letter.

As far as the provincial notification for delimitations is concerned, he wrote, clause 221 to clause 223 of the Election Act 2017 bestows complete powers of delimitation to the ECP.

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Clause 222 of the said act binds the ECP to constitute delimitation committee with mandate to carry out the delimitation process — with the support of district revenue department — in each district on the level of wards, he added.

The JI leader further mentioned that in the given scenario, it was strange that the ECP has shown “helplessness” against the provincial government when it comes to the process of delimitation.

He added that the ECP had already disappointed the nation by granting one more month to the provincial government — practically empowering it to hold the rights of people in limbo.

Article 32 and 140-A of the Constitution in addition to the Local Bodies Act 2013 and Elections Act 2017 provide a clear framework to run the local bodies through elected representatives and all mentioned references take the ECP as the legal and constitutional body for holding the polls, mentioned the JI leader in his letter.

He maintained that in light of the aforementioned mechanism set by the law and the Constitution, any delay in holding the elections would be tantamount to violation of the Constitution.

Highlighting the issue of flawed results of the census in Karachi, he said that the JI has been running a campaign against the flawed census but would not allow the PPP government to use it as a pretext to deviate from holding the local bodies elections, particularly in the scenario that the same party has constituted its government in the province on the basis of the same census.

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Referring to the issues being faced by Karachiites, he said that local bodies’ polls were the only solution.

He also mentioned that the Constitution has made it clear that the state will run its affairs through elected representatives of the people. He added that on the national and provincial levels, assemblies are intact to run the affairs of people by their elected representatives but the provincial governments have usurped the rights of people to have their decisions taken on behalf of them by their representatives.

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