ECP, CCI put on notice over MQM’s plea against delimitations

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Council of Common Interests (CCI) among others on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) petition against the forming of committees for delimitations for the local government elections in the province and the carrying out of the process.

MQM senior deputy convenor Amir Khan, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and others said in the petition that the provincial election commissioner has formed committees for the delimitations of LG constituencies and carried out the process in violation of the ECP’s laws.

They said that while the ECP was required to conduct delimitations after the official publication of every census result by the competent authority, the final result of the 2017 census was not officially published. They added that delimitations of constituencies in such circumstances could not be possible under the election and delimitation laws.

They also said that since the 2017 census result had not been officially published, it showed that they were still disputed and even sub judice (under judicial consideration). They added that the election authorities proceeding with delimitations in the absence of any statutory sanction amounted to “hoodwinking” the law and “circumventing” the mandatory provisions.

The petitioners said that the forming of delimitation committees and the carrying out of the process violated the election and delimitation laws as well as the directions of the superior courts in delimitation cases.

They questioned the forming of these committees in the absence of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics or census officials. They said that delimitation committees and any of their actions are of no legal effect because the law does not permit delimitations on the basis of a provisional result.

They also said that delimitation during the COVID-19 pandemic could not be possible, and that instead of appointing administrators, the tenure of every LG representative should be extended for six months.

They requested the court to declare the forming of delimitation committees illegal, and to restrain them from carrying out the process until the court’s decision on the petition.

The petitioners’ counsel said the ECP has to delimit the constituencies after every census, while the commission has been empowered to delimit territorial constituencies for elections to the National Assembly, provincial assemblies and LGs in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, Election Act, rules and applicable LG laws. He added that the delimitation process was unjustified and against the law.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar said that the points raised by the petitioners required consideration, and issued notices to the provincial advocate general, the ECP, the CCI and others to file their comments on August 26.

The provincial election commissioner had sent a notification to all the district election commissioners for the delimitation of union councils, union committees and wards to conduct the next LG elections, whose term expired this month.