The intelligence agencies on Friday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the second phase of local government (LG) polls in Sindh amid “severe security threats,” Aaj News reported citing sources.
The recommendations were given to the ECP during a meeting that came hours after the electoral body turned down the Sindh government’s summary to postpone LG elections in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Dadu.
As per reports, the officials of the national security institutions conveyed their concerns to the ECP and briefed the electoral watchdog on the security threats.
The huddle also discussed the 17 security threats received during the past one-and-half months in the province.
“Strong networks of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) exist in the province,” the meeting was told.
The warning comes amid increasing terrorist attacks in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, by TTP.
The outlawed terror group carried out over a hundred attacks last year and announced new ones after ending a ceasefire with the government on November 28, 2022.
But before the intelligence agencies' warning, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the provincial government had decided to delay the polls due to concerns of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
The Karachi-based party has stressed that the local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad could not be held until a new delimitation, but at the same time, it did not rule out its participation.
"If despite our concerns, the elections do take place, then we will not boycott them. However, we will not accept the results of the elections," MQM-P spokesperson Ahsan Ghauri told the media.
The provincial government has been frequently postponing LG polls first in the garb of rains and floods, and then for security reasons.
The second round of LG elections was scheduled to take place on July 24 last year, but the Sindh government excused itself from holding the polls over the lack of security and police presence due to the flooding. Later, the elections were also postponed on August 28, October 23, and today, the announcement was made for January 15 — making it the fourth time that the polls have been put off.
Earlier, the ECP had rejected the Sindh government’s request to postpone the local bodies elections in Karachi and Hyderabad and dispatched the polling material to the distribution centres, from where they will be transported to the polling stations.
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