After much delay and uncertainty in the second phase of local elections in Sindh, polling has begun in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions and more than 3.4 million people are exercising their right to vote to elect their local governments.
Polling started at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm. This is happening in seven districts of Karachi and nine districts of Hyderabad division.
The path to the local elections proved difficult as three postponements, litigation and political battles preceded the elections.
Interestingly, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) – one of the most popular parties in the two cities – announced a boycott of the polls late on Saturday night.
The party’s decision came after a day-long consultation with the provincial government – demanding new delimitation – failed.
Heeding the MQMP’s demand, the Sindh government tried for the second time to postpone the polls through a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday.
However, the election body did not hesitate to request the postponement of the Sindh government’s letter and decided to hold the elections as per schedule.
MQMP convener Dr. Khalid Maqbool along with the party’s senior leadership said that the local body elections have already been rigged. “Accordingly, we refuse to recognize the election,” he said.
Polling
During today’s elections Assistant Presiding Officer Chairman and Vice Chairman Union Council and General Members will issue two ballot papers of green and blue color for Ward Union Council.
Polling is taking place in 246 union committees of seven districts of Karachi (Central, West, East, South, Korangi, Kemari and Malir).
2551 candidates are contesting in Hyderabad, 1436 in Dadu, 839 in Jamshoro, 781 in Tando Ulyar, 715 in Matiari and 452 in Tando Mohammad Khan.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesperson, around 8,706 polling stations have been set up for local elections, including 1,204 for men and 1,170 for women.
According to the spokesperson, there are 389 improvised polling stations.
‘Elections going bad’
There are reports of polling being delayed in some areas due to one reason or another.
Reacting to the delay, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Asad Umar claimed that election staff did not reach some polling stations.
کئ پولنگ اسٹیشن پر الیکشن عملہ ابھی تک نہیں پہنچا. الیکشن خراب کرنے کی ہر کوشش کی جا رہی ہے #کراچی_کپتان_کا
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) January 15, 2023
He alleged that efforts were being made to spoil the elections.
JI lauds LEAs
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi President Hafiz Naeemur Rehman appreciated the law enforcement agencies for maintaining peace in Karachi during the elections.
Rehman claimed that some people burnt down camps in some places, but voters were still reaching their respective polling stations. “No untoward incident has been reported from [districts] Central and East,” he added.
He claimed that the people want a member of Jamaat-e-Islami to be elected as the mayor.
Talking about MQMP’s decision to boycott the elections, the JI president said that the party has run away from the elections.
Rehman said his party was strongly opposed to delimitations, adding that the government had proposed the ECP to redo the delimitations.
Why did MQMP not object at that time? he questioned. He alleged that MQMP sold out Karachi once again.
The JI leader also said that why did the federal cabinet approve the fake census?
He demanded that the election of the mayor should be direct.
Security arrangements
More than 43,605 officials and personnel of law enforcement agencies are performing their duties under the security plan formulated by the Sindh government.
According to the provincial police spokesperson, 26,050 officers and personnel are deployed on election duty at 4,997 polling stations in the city.
The spokesman said that apart from law enforcement agency, 200 personnel of Frontier Constabulary and 500 personnel of Rangers have also been deployed for election duty.
The spokesperson said that all possible steps are being taken to protect the life and property of the citizens.
On the day of polling, more than 43 thousand 605 personnel of Karachi Police are performing security duty, of which 17 thousand 588 have been posted in East Zone. Meanwhile, 6533, 4837 and 6218 officers, officials and staff have been posted in District East, Malir and Korangi respectively.
The spokesperson added that 11627, 2155, 4558 and 4914 personnel are deployed in South Zone, District South, District Central and Kemari respectively.
The deployment of officers, personnel and staff in West Zone, District Central and District West was 14,390, 9,672 and 4,718 respectively.
Around 3800 traffic police personnel are also performing their duties. They have been deputed to assist the administration at the polling stations.
Control room is up and running.
The ECP has set up a central control room for three days at the Islamabad Election Commission Secretariat to monitor local body elections.
Control Room of ECP Secretariat Islamabad #Controlroom #ECP pic.twitter.com/iQrZns5KMs
— Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL) (@ECP_Pakistan) January 15, 2023
‘Karachi will not accept elections’
Sindh’s request to postpone the polls was the second in as many days to appease the MQMP, which has warned of pulling out of the coalition government at the Center if its complaints about constituencies and voter lists are not met. Not removed before
After the failure of talks between MQMP convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at Governor House, Siddiqui along with other party leaders addressed a press conference in Bahadurabad.
Siddiqui lamented that the Election Commission was created to conduct elections in a transparent manner, but it failed to fulfill its constitutional role through new constituencies. He said that ECP is going to conduct elections on fake constituencies which the people of Karachi will not accept.
“How can we accept the election results in an election where voter lists are bad, constituencies not correct? ECP failed to properly manage voter lists and fix delimitations,” he said. He said, declaring that his party refuses to accept the results of the LG elections.
Home Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the MQMP’s decision, saying the party’s concerns were genuine as it had approached every forum to resolve the issue of constituencies.
Jamaat-e-Islami wants free and fair elections.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rahman has appealed to the people of Karachi to vote for his party’s election symbol to elect an honest and capable leader for the city and has demanded the Sindh government and state institutions to They should vote for their party’s election symbol. To ensure free and fair local elections today.
Rehman welcomed the ECP’s decision to go ahead with the polls despite “illegal and unconstitutional pressure” facing further delay in the polls.
He urged the citizens to vote for Karachi and put aside their political affiliations to secure the future of the city of lights.
