PPP to take action against ‘betrayers’ in last leg of LG polls

Karachi

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to take stern action against its local government elected representatives who, according to a PPP statement issued on Friday, violated the party’s line and discipline while taking part in the last stage of the LG polls in the province held on August 24, 2016.

In this regard, the statement quoted Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Sindh General-Secretary Senator Taj Haider as saying that the party had received a number of complaints concerning use of illegal means from across the province in the third stage of the local government elections.

“These complaints are about local government representatives of the party who had either voted in favour of anti-PPP candidates or filed their own nomination papers to run against the party’s nominated candidate for the third stage of the LG polls in the province.”

Senator Taj Haider said that it was “beyond his comprehension” that as to why the Election Commission of Pakistan had accepted nomination papers of PPP LG representatives to run in the last stage of local bodies’ polls as independent candidates.

He said that it was binding upon the ECP to prevent instances where elected representatives switched their political loyalties and also voting in their favour through unauthorised manner.  “Such LG representatives who restored to betray the party and its voters should be deprived of their seats in the LG set-up as a punitive action as per the local government law of the province.”

He said that for the very reason the PPP’s Sindh government had adopted the viewpoint before the Supreme Court that the method of open balloting or “show of hands” should be adopted for the last stage of the LG polls in the province.