Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has said that Rangers or other law enforcement agencies from Punjab could be deployed in Sindh for security. He made the remarks during the hearing of the matter of holding local body elections in Karachi in the ECP
A five-member commission headed by the CEC heard the case. During the hearing Waseem Akhtar appeared on behalf of MQM-P, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman on behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami and Murtaza Wahab on behalf of PPP was present.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that the Sindh government could not reduce the authority of the ECP. He said that Murtaza Wahab took the stance that eight personnel were to be deployed at each polling station out of 1300 highly sensitive polling stations. CEC said that the ECP has to hold local body elections within 120 days and the provincial governments never wanted to hold local body elections.
Chief Secretary Sindh said that if more time was given for the local body elections in Karachi then better preparations could be made.
Murtaza Wahab said that the Sindh government was always ready for the local body elections but security was necessary. He demanded that the elections should be postponed for another 90 days.
Waseem Akhtar said that objections to the census, delimitation and voter lists should be removed.
PTI lawyer Barrister Shahab said that local body elections were not being held in Karachi even after 10 months because Sindh government was not serious about holding elections.
Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) have agreed not to hold local body elections in Karachi.
Talking to the media after hearing of the petition related to local body elections in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) he further said that today the Sindh government had tried to run away again while MQM also wanted postponement by hiding behind talks about census and delimitation. He reiterated that the election could not be postponed by making excuses.
