ECP set to hold LG polls in Karachi, Hyderabad on 15th

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission (EC) has completed all preparations to conduct the local government (LG) polls in Karachi and Hyderabad on January 15.

Sources said the reserved verdict on MQM-P’s plea against dual voters lists would be announced on Monday (today). The ECP bench — headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja — had reserved its verdict on Friday, reports Geo News.

The Election Commission has rejected MQM-P’s allegations on use of dual voters lists and completed all preparations for the LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad.

The local bodies elections in Sindh’s two most populous cities will be held on the basis of old voters lists.

The CEC, during the hearing on MQM’s request, said that local elections in Karachi could not be postponed anymore.

The ECP had told the Sindh government that the second phase of local government polls in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on July 24, 2022, but then it postponed them because of torrential rains and subsequent floods in the province. The electoral body rescheduled the LG elections for August 28, but they were put off again for the same reason.

The commission had said that most polling stations had been inaccessible to voters.

On October 18, the ECP rescheduled the elections for October 23, but the provincial government sought their postponement for three months. It said it had deployed police in the flooded areas due to which it was unable to provide the required level of security to polling stations.

After repeated delays, the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) moved the Sindh High Court, which on November 15 instructed the ECP to announce the date for the LG elections within 15 days.

On November 22, the ECP announced January 15 as the new date.