MQM-P challenges fresh delimitation of Mirpurkhas

Petition in SHC says showing rural constituencies as urban areas to benefit ruling party

HYDERABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of conniving with Pakistan Peoples Party's Sindh government in the process of demarcation of constituencies for the local government elections.

"The ECP in connivance with the respondents, mentioned in the petition, has issued notification dated December 9, 2021, for the attainment of their mala fide intentions and ulterior designs under political motivations," alleges a petition filed by the leaders of MQM-P, Mirpurkhas district chapter.

The petition, pleaded by MQM-P's counsel advocate Dilawar Qureshi in the Sindh High Court (SHC), has cited Sindh government through the Chief Secretary, Secretary Local Government, Deputy Commissioner Mirpurkhas and ECP as the respondents. The petitioners include MQM-P's ex-MPA Zafar Ahmed Khan Kamali, Shafique Ahmed Arain, Muhammad Kamran and Abdul Saleem Khan.

On Nov 19, 2021, the ECP constituted the delimitation committees for all districts of Sindh. Each committee, headed by the district election commissioner, also consisted of an additional deputy commissioner and an election officer as its members. The committees were tasked to delimit the union committees, union councils and wards across the province.

As per the schedule notified separately on the same date, the preparation of the preliminary list of the councils was to be completed by Jan 14 followed by its publication the next day. The committees were supposed to receive objections from Jan 16 to 31 and to dispose of the same by Feb 15. The final list was to be published on Feb 23.

However, on Dec 9, 2021, the commission notified deferment of the delimitation schedule while holding its own Nov 19, 2021, notification in abeyance. No new schedule was issued.

For the MQM-P, this act amounted to providing time to the provincial government to notify the renewed municipal corporations, municipal and town committees in the province through the notification dated December 31, 2021. The petitioners contended that a number of Dehs like Khuth, Panhwarki, Phardo, Mubarak, Kaka, Manjri and Khandar, besides nine others, which are distinctively rural areas, have been merged in the urban set up under the corporation. They argued that the act is a violation of sections 8 to 14 of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013.

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They alleged that the Mirpurkhas DC issued a public notice for invitation of objections but the notice published in low circulated newspapers owing to which the stakeholders remained oblivious of this development. Moreover, the DC gave only three days to the public to file objections.

They said the stakeholders should have been given considerable time because demarcation and delimitation are complicated exercises.

"The whole process was done in a haste under political influence of the [provincial] government," they alleged.

The ECP had on November 11, 2021, asked the provincial government to conduct delimitation of the union council, union committees and wards as per the given rules and procedures.

They said the rural areas of the District Council Mirpurkhas are in no way identical to the urban areas of the district which fall in the limits of Municipal Committee Mirpurkhas. The former, they claimed, mainly comprised agricultural land which can be seen from the satellite maps. "These areas don't fall in the ambit and definition of an urban area."

They alleged that the ruling party has gerrymandered the constituencies to elect the party's mayor in Mirpurkhas. The secretary local government on December 13, 2021, notified the Municipal Corporation Mirpurkhas (MCM) which also covered the areas falling in the jurisdiction of the existing Municipal Committee Mirpurkhas.

They prayed the court to declare the Dec 13, 2021, notification illegal and suspend its operation.

Earlier this week MQM-P also challenged expansion of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC).

A party's MPA opposed the inclusion of the areas falling under municipal committees Qasimabad and Tandojam, town committee Husri and district council Hyderabad in the HMC.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2022.