LG polls on reserved seats in Sindh, Punjab postponed indefinitely

ECP officials say decision was taken in view of thousands of cases pending with tribunals against elected members

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday postponed indefinitely the local bodies elections on reserved seats in Sindh and Punjab, further delaying the local government setup in the provinces.

A notification, issued by the poll supervisory authority, said that the polls were being postponed since the “matter was sub judice”, without elaborating further.

Meanwhile, the ECP officials when contacted said the decision was taken keeping in view thousands of cases pending with tribunals against the elected members. Going by this pretext, it would take a longer amount of time before these cases are disposed off.

In Punjab, the poll body scheduled elections of indirect seats of district councils, municipal and metropolitan corporations for February 8, municipal committees for February 11 and union councils on February 14.



It issued similar schedule for January 15, 21 to organise election on indirect seats in Sindh. Polls to elect members on reserved seats through indirect elections were to take place on February 8 in all district councils, municipal corporations, district municipal corporations and metropolitan corporations of Sindh province.

Similarly, directly elected members of union councils, union committees, town committees and municipal committees were scheduled to elect members on reserved seats in their respective bodies on February 14.

Meanwhile, the LG elections for direct seats were held in three phases in Sindh and Punjab last year. In the next stage, these directly elected local representatives were to elect thousands of members on seats reserved for women, minorities, peasants, labourers and youth.

The general elections in the country were held in 2013, but some cases challenging results of the polls are still pending.

The LG polls in Sindh and Punjab were held after a gap of 10 years, with the two most populous provinces being the last ones to organise the elections.