All preparations complete for LG by-elections in city today

All preparations for local government by-elections in Karachi have been completed. Polling will be held from 8am to 5pm on Sunday (today). Returning officers have provided the voting materials, including ballot boxes and papers, and ink pads, to the presiding officers, who have moved them to the polling stations under police security.

By-polls will be held in the city for nine seats of chairman, vice chairman and general member. Various political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have fielded 54 candidates for the seats.

The constituencies where the by-elections will be held have 206,686 registered voters: 112,271 men and 94,415 women. All 121 polling stations have been categorised as sensitive and highly sensitive.

In District Malir by-polls will be held for the chairman and vice chairman seats in UC-7 Gadap Town, and the general member seat in UC-1 Ward-4 and UC-2 Ward-3. In District East by-election will be held for the general member seat in UC-6 Jinnah Town.

In District Keamari by-poll will be held for the chairman seat in UC-3 Mauripur Town. In District West by-election will be held for the general member seat in UC-5 Ward-3 Nazimabad Town.

In District South by-polls will be held for the vice chairman seat in UC-6 Saddar Town, the vice chairman seat in UC-12 and the chairman seat in UC-13.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had submitted his nomination papers for the chairman seat in three union committees. He was, however, elected chairman uncontested in UC-7 Ibrahim Hyderi.

He later withdrew his nomination from UC-3 Mauripur Town, but he is still contesting for UC-13 Saddar Town. Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad will contest the by-election for the chairman seat in UC-7 Gadap Town.

On October 30, the Jamaat-e-Islami filed a petition in the Sindh High Court, requesting it to grant a stay to holding LG by-elections in Karachi over alleged violations of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s code of conduct.

Petitioner Raja Arif Sultan, who is a deputy chief of the party’s Karachi chapter, submitted that Mayor Murtaza Wahab, who was a registered voter in Union Committee Gizri, Saddar Town, had submitted his nomination papers for contesting by-elections in three union councils of Keamari, South and Malir districts, and the nomination papers had been accepted by the returning officers.

He said the ECP’s code of conduct clearly mentions that local government public office holders such as mayor, chairman and their deputies cannot contest or involve in election activities, but the mayor being a public office holder not only submitted his nomination papers in three constituencies but was also actively involved in and carried out an election campaign using his office powers and inaugurating development works during the campaigning.

The JI leader said that if a person holding a public office runs a campaign for his election, it is a serious violation of the ECP code of conduct. He said the implementation of the election code of conduct was a prior responsibility of the ECP and returning officers, but none of the official respondents took any action against the mayor, who openly violated the code of conduct.