Sindh postpones LG polls in Karachi, Hyderabad yet again

KARACHI: In a decision which will be seen as a boon for the newly united Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and a bane for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party postponed late on Thursday night the second phase of the local government elections in all the seven districts of Karachi Division and the Hyderabad and Dadu districts of Hyderabad Division.

Addressing a press conference after an important meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the LG polls were being put off in Karachi Division, and Hyderabad and Dadu districts in Hyderabad Division.

However, he said, the polls would be held as per schedule on January 15 in other districts of Hyderabad Division – Tando Mohmmad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Thatta, Jamshoro, Badin and Sujawal.

Memon said the decision to postpone the polls in Karachi and Hyderabad was taken as the MQM-Pakistan, which is an ally of the PPP in the federal government, had reservations about delimitations of constitutions carried out under Section 10-A on the recommendation of a sub-committee of the provincial government.

Memon said the Sindh cabinet had withdrawn the notification under which the delimitations had been carried out. He said the sub-committee would meet again for deliberations for new delimitations for the LG elections.

Explaining the decision regarding Dadu, he said it was not possible for the government to conduct the polls in the flood-affected district. He said Mehar and other areas in that district were still under floodwater and people could not step out of their homes to cast votes there. To a query, the information minister denied that the decision to put off the LG polls had been taken the MQM-P had threatened to take to the streets. He promised that the Muttahida’s reservations would be addressed at the government level.

To a query what the government would do if its decision was challenged in courts by the PTI and the JI, Memon said the government had acted according to its rules of business, the ECP had taken its own decision and political parties could take whichever decisions they wanted to take. He said the Sindh cabinet would meet again at 11am on Friday (today).

Soon after Sharjeel Memon’s press conference, an MQM-P delegation comprising Farooq Sattar, Faisal Subzwari, Mustafa Kamal, Wasim Akhtar and Javed Hanif met CM Murad Ali Shah at the CM House and thanked the PPP leadership for postponing the LG polls. Sattar led the delegation. Sharjeel Memon, Murtaza Wahab and Nasir Hussain Shah of the PPP also attended the meeting.

PTI, JI react

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami lambasted the Sindh government for its late-night announcement of delaying the local government elections. In a statement, the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Haleem Adil Sheikh, announced that the PTI would challenge the Sindh government’s move in courts.

He said the fear of defeat in Karachi and Hyderabad had paralysed the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

The PTI leader went on to say that the PPP and MQM-P were the two sides of the same coin and the Muttahida acted like a B team of the PPP to build pressure so that the polls could be deferred once again. He said the faces of leaders of the PPP and MQM-P bore the stamp of rejection and their politics had ended.

Jamaat-e-Islami spokesperson Zahid Askari told The News the JI would adopt every legal, constitutional and democratic course against the latest delay in the local government elections.

He was of the view that there was no legal or moral ground to further postpone the local bodies polls in Karachi. Even the judiciary had rejected the MQM-P’s plea for postponement of the polls, he added.

Askari termed the Sindh government’s move an anti-Karachi decision. He said the issues of the megalopolis would not be resolved without elected local governments.

He alleged that the PPP had delayed the polls in order to benefit the MQM-P after the merger of its various splinter groups. The people of Karachi now recognised all those who conspired against them, the JI spokesperson remarked.

He said the MQM-P could not deliver in local bodies in the last 35 years. He alleged that the PPP and MQM-P were in fact together in the conspiracy and they only gave statements against each other to deceive the people.

He also termed the Sindh government’s decision contempt of court.