KARACHI: Political parties applauded the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to hold local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad on January 15, 2023, including the PPP, which is currently in power in Sindh.
A day earlier, the commission gave the Sindh government, the chief secretary, and the inspector general of police instructions on how to ensure that local body elections take place on the specified day and that there is an adequate number of security personnel ready for election duties.
Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the president of the PPP Sindh, told reporters in Karachi that the province administration is ready to ensure the smooth running of the LG elections’ second phase.
He predicted that the PPP will triumph in the second round of voting in the same way that it had in the first.
He claimed that the post-flood conditions in the two divisions had improved enough to allow for the holding of the second round of voting.
The JI also issued a statement to applaud the ECP’s choice. Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the party’s leader in Karachi, also urged that the electoral board forbid the PPP administration from “conspiring against the LG polls.”
In addition, he demanded that the province government cease its “anti-democratic behaviour,” arguing that Karachi and its residents’ urgent problems can only be solved with an empowered LG set-up.
Rehman asked that the government give the LG system more authority in light of Article 140-A of the constitution and the judgement of the Supreme Court.
He asserted that the LG system’s financial and administrative authority were taken away by the MQM-P and PPP collectively. The two parties are once again promoting the feudal mentality against the populace by opposing the LG elections.
The ministers “have resorted to undemocratic measures to intimidate the people of Karachi,” he continued, “since both parties are afraid of the JI’s appeal among the public.”
The PPP government claimed to be unable to deploy police personnel for election duty in Nazimabad, yet hundreds of policemen were made available to take action against Mujahid Colony residents who lived in the same neighbourhood, the JI chairman noted.
Rehman lamented that only the regular people are penalised and evicted from their homes without receiving any compensation or other form of alternative housing, claiming that government institutions and officials are equally to blame for encroachments around the city.
The PTI’s president for Karachi, Bilal Ghaffar, praised the ECP for announcing the day for the local body elections in a statement that was issued separately.
“This time the ECP would hold the LG elections in accordance with the constitution and the law,” he hoped. The provincial government is “using delaying tactics to postpone the second phase of the LG polls,” according to Ghaffar, who said that the public is tired of it.
Khurram Sher Zaman, the PTI’s leader in the province assembly’s parliamentary party, however, emphasised that simply declaring the election date is insufficient because it is also crucial to guarantee the elections are conducted in a transparent manner.
“In Karachi, there is an urgent need for an LG system based on local representatives. The backbone of a powerful state, LG systems are found all across the world.
He asserted that the PPP and the MQM-P fled the LG elections in order to avoid exposing their identities to the electorate, but that they will now be held responsible by the electorate.
Furthermore, PSP Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal applauded the ECP’s decision while speaking to a gathering of the party’s LG poll candidates in District Keamari.
“The PSP has made every preparation for the elections. We still welcome the polls despite the fact that the existing LG system has numerous shortcomings that need to be fixed.
According to Kamal, transferring authority and funds to the local level is the only way to address the issues facing the populace.
Since day one, he said, the PSP has fought for the distribution of authority and resources to the lowest level. “Now that Karachi has been constructed, we’ll rebuild it along with Hyderabad.”
Senatorial polls
For the Senate by-election scheduled for next month, which will fill the seat vacated by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the PPP till his resignation earlier this month, the PPP and MQM-P have both filed the nomination papers for their respective candidates.
The election authority had requested last week that the members of the Sindh Assembly choose a senator from the province in opposition to a general seat. The by-election is scheduled for December 8.
For the Senate by-election, Khuhro filed Waqar Mehdi’s nomination papers, and Muhammad Hussain of the MQM-P presented the papers for the party’s Tariq Mansoor, Sabeen Ghori, and Ahmed Salim Siddiqui.
The party leadership would release the final candidate’s ticket following deliberation, he told the media at the time.