Sindh govt not providing data for LG elections: ECP tells SHC

KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) apprised the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday that the Sindh government had not provided the requisite data necessary to hold local government elections in the province.

ECP law officer Abdullah Hanjrah informed the bench that the ECP had also sent a letter to the Sindh chief secretary in this regard.

A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh, took up for hearing a set of petitions regarding holding LG elections in Sindh. During the hearing, the bench asked the ECP what steps it had taken to conduct the polls in the province.

The ECP law officer told the SHC bench that the ECP was ready to hold the elections but the Sindh government had not provided the requisite data.

Hanjrah said that the tenure of the elected LG governments in Sindh ended on August 30, 2020, following which the ECP notified delimitation committees and authorities, and during several meetings with the representative of the Sindh government, it was asked to provide the required data to carry out delimitation, but the provincial government did not provide details about maps and number of councils, etc.

He added that the meetings with the provincial government officials were held with Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja in the chair.

The ECP law officer apprised the SHC bench that the Sindh government wanted to make amendments in the local government law and informed the ECP for which it required six months’ time and also filed an appeal under Article-154(7) of the constitution.

After hearing the representative of the Sindh government, the chief election commissioner reserved its judgment, he maintained.

The SHC bench later adjourned the hearing till Oct 12 after an additional advocate general-Sindh requested time to go through the letter of the ECP and to seek instructions from the provincial government.