Opposition in Sindh sees foul play as govt seeks ECP view over fresh delimitation

KARACHI: In what is seen by the opposition parties as another attempt to delay the Jan 15 local government elections, the Sindh government has approached the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking its opinion for “further necessary action” on the Feb 1 verdict of the Supreme Court that directed it to make the LG system empowered, which primarily demands fresh delimitation before polling.

Sources said that the Sindh local government department last week sent a letter to the provincial election commissioner.

The letter contained a copy of the apex court’s Feb 1 verdict and a letter of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan to the provincial administration demanding implementation of the verdict as well to devolve financial, administrative and political powers to local governments as enshrined under the Constitution as well as fresh delimitation.

However, it is the opinion of the Sindh advocate general in the LG department letter that gives credence to the stance of the MQM-P about devolving powers and fresh delimitation

While Sindh makes no direct request to delay Jan 15 elections, PTI, JI view it as yet another attempt to postpone LG polls

The sources said that the Sindh government did not make any direct request to delay the upcoming local government polls, but seeking opinion from the ECP for “further necessary action” on the SC verdict and the petition of the MQM-P regarding delimitation sparked speculations about the fate of the LG elections.

‘Feudal mindset’

Expressing their concerns, opposition parties referred to the past moves of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government that had on different pretexts tried to delay the local government polls.

The parliamentary party leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the Sindh Assembly, Khurrum Sher Zaman, called it a “feudal mindset” of the PPP government that didn’t want to devolve the power.

“They [Sindh government of the PPP] call themselves the champions of democracy, but in fact they are anti-democracy and believe in feudal system. They want to keep people of this province slave and don’t want anyone from the grass root to share the power,” he said in a statement issued on Monday.

“Enough is enough. The people of Sindh have now known the reality and the days of PPP rule in the province are numbered. We strongly condemn any move to the delay the second phase of local government elections in the province,” he said.

After multiple delays in the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions, the ECP had announced that the second phase of the polls in the two divisions of Sindh would be held on Jan 15.

The LG polls were originally scheduled to take place on July 24. However, it was postponed twice due to unprecedented rains and flooding in the country, particularly in Sindh. The ECP on Oct 18 decided to postpone local government elections in Karachi for the third time.

‘Move aims at getting away from defeat’

Though there was no immediate reaction from the MQM-P, which filed a petition before the Sindh High Court seeking fresh delimitation before the local government polls.

However, other parties despite their concerns over the current delimitation of LG constituencies see the provincial government’s move as an excuse to “get away from defeat due to its bad governance for the past 15 years”.

“Now it’s again a test of the Election Commission and all other constitutional bodies of Pakistan,” said Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.

“The Election Commission has already announced its verdict on the same issue last month.

We have represented aspirations of Karachiites at the last month’s hearing by the Election Commission where both PPP and MQM-P opposed the local government polls in the city,” he said, adding: “The people of Karachi are witnessing this all. They are now well aware that who’s pro-democracy, pro-Karachi and who’s not.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2022