In a bid to further postpone local govt elections, the MQM-P has been pressing for delimitation in union councils

Karachi: Despite the fact that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a schedule for the local body elections in Karachi, there is still uncertainty about whether they will be held on January 15.

The opposition parties, particularly the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), have pressed the ECP to hold elections on the schedule, but the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh and its working partner, the MQM-P, appear unwilling to allow the ECP to hold elections on time. The country’s economic and political situation is already precarious, and general elections could be held anytime.

According to inside sources, the MQM-P and the PPP have been holding consecutive meetings to find a way to postpone the elections once more, which is why the MQM-P has been pressing for delimitation before the local government elections. The MQM-P sought delimitation in court, but the court denied its request.

MQM-P leaders, on the other hand, have been steadfast in their demand for delimitation before the local government elections. Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Convener of the MQM-P, has repeatedly demanded that the ECP and the PPP government carry out delimitation before the LG polls.

He stated, “We have serious reservations about the current delimitation, which we believe are unjustified. We want to rationalise union council delimitations, and if local government elections are held without new delimitations, the entire exercise will be meaningless.” According to the MQM-P, a union council in Malir, for example, had 30 thousand voters, while another union council in Orangi Town had 80 thousand voters, which was not justified, and delimitation on the basis of rationalism was required prior to the elections.

Representatives from the MQM-P and the PPP have been meeting on a regular basis to iron out the differences in the local government law before it is tabled in the Sindh assembly. The Sindh government has been working to amend the local government law in accordance with Section 140a of the constitution, as directed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Senator Waqar Mehdi of the PPP confirmed that representatives from both parties had been meeting almost daily to reach a consensus on the local government law and that as soon as the draft was finished, the amended law would be presented to the Sindh Assembly for approval.

The provincial assembly session is currently in progress, but the draft bill for the amended Sindh Local Government Act may not be tabled during the session. “The consultation on the local government amendments is underway,” Waqar Mehdi said, adding, “And we do not intend to table the new bill on local government during the current session of the provincial assembly.”

The Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have petitioned the Sindh High Court (SHC) over the delay in the local government elections, which the court had ordered the ECP to hold without delay. The ECP then announced and issued the election schedule for Karachi’s local government elections, which are scheduled for January 15, 2023.

According to insiders, the PPP and MQM-P were almost ready to introduce a bill to amend the Local Government Act 2021, proposing an amendment to implement delimitation based on an equal number of voters in almost every union council.

Sources further revealed that the other option being considered is that instead of presenting the bill to the assembly, the Sindh governor may issue an ordinance requiring the delimitation to be carried out on the basis of an almost equal number of voters in each union council.

They stated that the rationalised delimitation process would add 30 to 35 new union councils to the existing ones.

The ECP was bound to hold elections in accordance with the law if the bill was passed in the assembly or the ordinance was issued, and if there was an amendment about delimitation in the law, even through an ordinance, the ECP would carry out delimitation by postponing the elections, the sources said, adding that the process would take at least six months to complete.

As per the sources, the MQM-P and the PPP wanted to take advantage of the fragile political and economic situation to gain time so that general elections could be announced before local government elections.

At a function hosted by IT Minister Amin ul Haq, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stated that the MQM-P desired immediate local government elections, but that these should be conditional on rationalised delimitations based on the recently completed census. It is also worth noting that the cricket match between the New Zealand and Pakistan teams will take place at the National Stadium in Karachi on January 15, which is also the day of local government elections. This would be a blessing in disguise for the Sindh government, allowing it to use the cricket match as an excuse to demonstrate its inability to provide security for the upcoming elections.