New local body delimitations unveiled

As experts point out flaws, ECP officials say that this is a preliminary report for which objections have been sought

KARACHI:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has released a preliminary report on the delimitation of local bodies in Karachi under the 2017 census.

Per the report, 25 town municipal corporations and 233 union committees have been formed in seven districts of the port city. In District Malir, there are three Town Municipal Corporations (TMCs) and 30 Union Committees. District South has two town municipal corporations and 26 union committees (USCs).

There are four TMCs and 37 USCs in District Korangi, three TMCs and 26 USCs in District West, five TMCs and 43 USCs in District East, five TMCs and 45 UCs in District Central and three Town Municipal Corporations, and 26 Union Committees in District Kemari.

In addition to that, each union committee has four wards. However, this time around, rural areas have also been included in the Town Municipal Corporation and the urban areas, while no separate Municipal Corporation has been formed for the rural areas.

According to the report released by the Election Commission, the population of Karachi’s local body constituencies is 15.158 million. The city’s total population is counted to be around is 160,24,894 people, while ECP officials assert that the rest of the population belongs to the cantonment.

Speaking in this regard, researcher and regional planner Dr. Nawaz, has criticized the new delimitation of local bodies, alleging that there many flaws in the latest delimitation of constituencies. “The population ratio is not standardised.

The population in a union committee is 30,000 and somewhere up to 95,000, while the proportion of people can be kept more or less with a margin of 10 per cent according to the rules. In addition, a union committee has been formed to cross the geographically significant highways. A peninsular Union Committee is formed. All of these are against the by-laws set by the Election Commission,” he highlighted, alleging that the local body constituencies have been formed with the aim to benefit the ruling party.

The Election Commission officials say that the report of new constituencies is not final yet. According to them, the Additional Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts, Education, Revenue, and Election Commission officials, were involved in compiling the preliminary report of the new constituencies.

“This is a preliminary report that has been posted in each district, and objections have been sought. The Election Commission has constituted a Delimitation Authority that includes the Election Commission officers, who will listen to the objections and transparently decide within 15 days under the rules laid down by the Election Commission, keeping these objections in mind,” outline one ECP official on conditions of anonymity.

He further said that after the authority’s decision, the final report of the local body constituencies would be released next month.