LG elections: Sindh ECP reach agreement over delimitations

Government had gone to court against ECP's announcement of new constituencies

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) disposed of on Tuesday the case pertaining to delimitations ahead of the local bodies elections after the petitioner, the Sindh government, took back the application.

The plaintiff's attorney, Farooq H Naek, told the two-member bench, headed by the SHC chief justice Faisal Arab, that the Sindh government had reached an understanding with the respondent, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), over the delimitation row.

Last week, the government, through its local government secretary, had moved an application before the SHC against the ECP. The petition was made against the ECP for sending a proposal to the Sindh chief secretary to create 90 new union councils in 15 districts of the province by shifting urban areas into rural union councils and wards ahead of the polls. The local bodies polls, according to the announced schedule, will be conducted in three phases, the first of which is due to commence on October 31.

Meanwhile, the ECP and the Sindh government, acting on the directions of the court, submitted a report before the bench and maintained that the row was nearly settled.

The report, submitted on Monday, read that the plaintiff and the respondent were willing to conduct the elections as per schedule, except in 11 union councils of seven districts for their status remained controversial. The disputed constituencies fell within Sanghar, Ghotki, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Tharparkar, Jamshoro and Hyderabad.

Naek told the bench that the due to the controversial status of the said 11 constituencies, no candidate had filed nomination papers there. He submitted that one the issue is resolved between the two parties, polls will be conducted there.

He told the bench that the application was withdrawn as the government and the election commission had agreed on the report.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2015.