Local body’s elections in Karachi to be held as per schedule on Aug 28: ECP

The spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that the local body’s elections in Karachi Division will be held as per the fixed schedule on Aug 28.

However, the elections in Hyderabad Division have been postponed on the base of reports from the ECP Sindh and the provincial government. The decision has been taken keeping in mind the weather situation.

Moreover, the ECP has called a meeting to review the climate condition and decide on the conduct of local government elections in Karachi.

Earlier, the Government of Sindh requested the ECP to postpone the second phase of the local body’s election in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions as it would be difficult to hold the elections due to continuous rains, badly damaging the infrastructure, adding that another expected rain spell in Sindh was forecast by the Met Office from Tuesday.

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The provincial government further said the police and other relevant departments are engaged in relief operations in interior Sindh.

It would be indispensable to provide security in matters of election in an emergency.

The Sindh government requested the ECP to consider a new date for the second phase local body’s elections.

In the first phase of local government’s elections in Sindh, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took a lead. The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) stood second, followed by independent candidates. They were followed by PTI and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

The MQM-P boycotted the elections in Mirpurkhas citing low voter turnout and accusation of rigging. MQM leader Waseem Akhtar claimed that dacoits stole ballot papers and accused the ECP of mismanaging the polls.

There were a several incidents of sporadic violence reported across the province. In Tando Adam, two people including the brother of a PTI candidate were killed and at least 20 people were injured in clashes outside various polling stations.

There were also reports of a clash between voters of PPP and PTI at polling station Allah Jurio Jaghirani of Union Council Panhwari in Rohri. In Nawabshah, people attacked the social security polling station and held the polling staff hostage, while seven polling staffers were abducted in the Kandhkot area of Kashmore.

A clash also took place between two political parties in UC Trihmar in Tharpark District. The son of PTI leader Arbab Ghulam Rahim was also attacked. In Naushero Feroze, at least four people were killed and the voting process was stopped temporarily when clashes erupted between two rival groups.

A total of 9,023 polling stations were established including 1,910 male, 1,895 female, 5,218 joint, and 224 improvised polling stations for 11304860 registered voters in 14 districts.