ECP decision to postpone LG elections, NA-245 by-poll slammed

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), have rejected the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the local government polls in Karachi and Hyderabad.

The key political parties have accused the election body of taking the decision of postponing the polls at the behest of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

On Wednesday the ECP had postponed the second phase of LG elections in Sindh and the by-election for the National Assembly’s NA-245 constituency in Karachi.

An ECP press release said a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja in chair decided to postpone the second phase of the LG polls on the request of Sindh’s chief secretary because of the expected new spell of monsoon showers. The polls will now be held on August 28.

‘More controversial’

A large number of PTI workers and supporters gathered outside the ECP’s provincial office to protest against the election body’s decision to postpone the LG elections. PTI Sindh President and former federal maritime affairs minister Ali Zaidi led the rally, while former NA speaker Asad Qaiser, former federal minister Shehryar Afridi and other party leaders also participated in the demonstration. “The ECP was already controversial, but now it has become even more so,” said Zaidi. “The postponement of the LG elections and the NA-245 by-poll is a sign of the PPP’s and the MQM-P’s defeat.”

Separately, addressing a news conference at the provincial assembly, PA opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh of the PTI said the “imported” government got the second phase of the LG polls in Sindh postponed because it knew that its component parties would be badly defeated.

“These elections got rescheduled only two days before the polling date mainly because the PPP, the MQM-P and the JI fled from the LG elections jointly.” Sheikh said the PTI had gone to court during the first phase of the LG elections because the polls were not being held in accordance with Article 140-A of the constitution, but the elections were not postponed.

He said the PTI’s victory in the LG polls and the NA-245 by-election is certain because the results of the Punjab by-polls show that the entire nation stands with party chief Imran Khan. He announced that the PTI would file a petition in the Sindh High Court against the postponement of the second phase of the LG elections in the province. Addressing another news conference in Karachi, the PTI’s parliamentary party leader Khurrum Sher Zaman sought the resignation of the election commissioner, saying that the ECP had “failed” to conduct transparent polls.

‘False allegations’

JI’s Karachi chapter also announced holding a protest demonstration outside the ECP’s provincial office against the election body’s “biased” attitude, the LG polls being delayed and the commission levelling “false” allegations against the party. JI city chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made the announcement at a news conference.

Referring to the ECP’s press release that claimed that the JI had asked for the elections to be rescheduled, Rehman said the party had submitted a plea to the commission in June to reschedule the NA-245 by-poll, not the second phase of the LG elections.

He demanded that the ECP tender an apology for “misleading” the nation and “twisting” the facts, failing to do which would lead the JI to initiate legal proceedings against the election body.

He said the JI has decided to change its Karachi Rights March scheduled for Friday (today) into a full-scale protest sit-in outside the ECP office, where the party will announce its future course of action. “The ECP’s Sindh chapter is playing a really dubious and dirty game. On the one hand it failed to remove a political administrator during the campaign for the LG polls, but on the other hand, it plays the role of the PPP government’s B team by delaying the elections on the pretext of rains,” said Rehman. “If rain is the issue, why didn’t the ECP delay the LG polls for a few days? The delay for one month shows that the ECP is hand in glove with the PPP and the MQM-P.”

‘See with open eyes’

A large number of TLP workers and supporters also gathered near the ECP’s provincial office to protest against the election body. Addressing the protesters, Allama Ghous Baghdadi and other TLP leaders said the ECP has taken the controversial decision at the behest of the PPP and the MQM-P.

“If it rains on polling day, the people of Karachi should also see with open eyes the performance of the parties that have been occupying the resources of the city for years,” said Baghdadi. He said that the TLP was fully prepared for the LG polls, but the ECP’s announcement to delay the elections just three days before the exercise is condemnable.