Local government polls in Karachi on December 5

Karachi
The election commission secretary said on Wednesday that the local government elections in Karachi that were scheduled to take place in the third phase would be conducted on December 5 instead of the previously announced date of December 3 because of the Chehlum of Imam Hussain (RA).
Baber Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad also added that army and Rangers would be deployed only at sensitive places during the polls.
He was speaking to reporters after attending a meeting presided over by chief election commissioner Sardar Raza to review the arrangements for the first phase of the local bodies elections scheduled on October 31.
The chief election commissioner, while speaking to reporters during his visit to the Mazar-e-Quaid after his arrival in Karachi, said the commission was ready to conduct the elections in Sindh without any fear.
“Governments change, but institutions remain,” he added.
He said political parties and citizens should support the election commission so that the local government polls could be held in a fair and transparent manner.
In the first phase, elections ill be held in Sukkur and Larkana divisions.
The secretary told reporters that all district returning officers had conveyed their reservations and demanded that army and Rangers should be deployed at polling stations there were could be clashes between rival tribes in the province’s rural areas.
He added that the officers’ apprehensions would be presented before the Pakistan Army authorities, who would decide as to how many soldiers they could provide for the polls.
The secretary said that it was wrongly being perceived that the situation in Sindh was completely in shambles, but the briefing given by the departments concerned, especially the law enforcement agencies and the provincial government, indicated that the law and order situation had improved and the law enforcement agencies would only be deployed at specific places.
About the deployment of the army in other two phases, the secretary said the decision would be made as and when required.
In the second phase, elections will take place on Nov 19 in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Benazirabad divisions. In the remaining six districts of Karachi, they will take place on December 5.
The official said in the first phase of the polls in eight districts of Sindh, around 4.6 millions people would vote.
Overall, in all three phases, 11,200 representatives would be elected through direct voting.
In the first phase, 37,000 polling staffer had been deputed.
The meeting was also attended by the IGP, the chief secretary, the home secretary, the Sukkur and Larkana commissioners, district government officials, district returning officers and Pakistan Rangers’ Brigadier Khurram.
Different issues including the printing of ballot papers, the supply of election material, transportation, the training of polling staff, transportation funds and the law and order situation were discussed. The election commissioner expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements.
It was also noted that the district returning officers had recommended deployment of army and Rangers at polling stations, at the taluka level and also at specific places.