Karachi, Hyderabad local govt elections to take place on Jan 15

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced that local government (LG) elections in Karachi and Hyderabad will take place on January 15, 2023, reported Aaj News.

Announcing the verdict that was reserved on November 15, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja urged the interior secretary and IG Sindh to provide security for the polls.

Sindh High Court orders immediate LG elections in Karachi, Hyderabad

On November 18, the Sindh High Court had ordered immediate local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad and directed the provincial government to ensure security needs for the polls.

The court concluded the hearing of petitions lodged by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) while rejecting Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) petition that requested a delay in LG elections until amendment in local government laws were finalised.

The court issued a written verdict later during the day.

Petition challenging ECP’s powers referred to LHC CJ

The first phase of the Sindh LG elections took place in June, marred by violence and mismanagement. The second phase was originally scheduled for July 24, but kept getting delayed by the ECP, which cited bad weather and flooding as the reason.

On October 18, the ECP delayed the polls once again on request of the Sindh government, which said that there were difficulties in providing security for the elections as it was facing a shortage of 16,000 personnel.

On November 16, the federal and Sindh governments refused to provide the required assistance to the ECP for holding local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions as the electoral body reserved its verdict in the case related to delay in LG polls in these two divisions comprising 16 districts.

The Interior Ministry officials conveyed to the ECP that military and paramilitary personnel could not be assigned first-tier election duties in the LG polls due to their extensive engagements in different parts of the country.

The Sindh government cited the engagement of Sindh police in flood relief operations to refuse the provision of the required number of police personnel for security during LG polls in the two divisions.