Unfair selection? QAT demands reappointment of Hyd tribunal judge

Objections were also raised regarding the government's decision to stage LG polls in three phases.

HYDERABAD: The Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) has objected to the appointment of a Hyderabad Election Tribunal judge as an appellate authority to hear objections against the delimitation of local government (LG) constituencies.

In a letter to the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the QAT also rejected the proposition to stage the LG polls in three phases.

"Among the 11 delimitation authorities (DAs) one retired judge, Ashfaq Baloch, has been placed ... as such same person is a supporter of [the Pakistan] Peoples Party," reads the letter. The ECP appointed 11 DAs for 29 districts in Sindh on June 4 to receive and hear objections. The jurisdiction of seven DAs covers three districts each, while the remaining four cover two districts each. While 10 of the DAs are serving regional election commissioners (RECs) of the ECP, Baloch, who has been made the DA for Hyderabad, Dadu and Jamshoro districts, heads the Hyderabad Election Tribunal. The tribunal, whose jurisdiction covers 12 districts, has been hearing petitions for the May 2013 general elections.

The letter demands that the ECP appoint a serving REC to replace Baloch. The applicant also urged the ECP to organise the LG elections in Sindh on one day instead of in the three separate phases. Soomro argued that the phased elections will enable the provincial government's machinery to easily manipulate it.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2015.