ECP schedules 1st phase of LG polls

Polling to take place on June 26; results will be released on June 30

KARACHI:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued a schedule for the first phase of local government (LG) elections in 14 districts of Sindh.

The polling will be held on June 26 from 8am to 5pm and results will be released on June 30.

In the first phase, LG polls will be held in a total of 14 districts of Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad and Mirpurkhas divisions.

The ECP issued a notification under the relevant laws declaring that public notices will be issued to the relevant returning officers on April 28, inviting the filing of nomination papers from May 10-13.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held from May 16-18. Similarly, the candidates will be allotted election symbols on May 28.

Meanwhile, appeals against the decision of ROs can be filed from May 19-21 which will be decided by the appellate authority from May 23-25.

The last date for withdrawal and publication of the revised candidate list will be May 27.

The ECP, in the notification, also issued a code of conduct banning all executive authorities from either announcing any development project or using state resources in the elections, which could influence the elections in favour of a particular candidate.

It warned that if any person in government service misused his or her official position for influencing the results of the elections, he or she should be liable to be proceeded under the law.

The ECP barred the holders of public offices from visiting any constituency for the local government polls, unveiling any development scheme and canvassing for any candidate or political party.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had last month announced that it will conduct the local government elections in Sindh in two phases starting in May.

It is pertinent to note that the Sindh cabinet had recently approved further amendments to the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill, making the next Karachi mayor a member of the governing bodies of city development authorities and the chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.

The further amendments came after the then opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly created a massive uproar, believing they had been sidelined by the government. In order to have their demands met, the opposition even resorted to holding protests and sit-ins outside official Sindh government buildings.

One of the parties was the Jamaat-e-Islami who only agreed to end its 29-day-long sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -led government agreed to more amendments to the local government act.

As per their agreement, all departments of the education and health sectors, including hospitals and dispensaries, would be handed back to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC).

According to the agreement, the Karachi mayor would be chairperson of the water and sewerage board as the government agreed to restore the power of municipal authorities.

Prior to this development, an all-parties conference, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, had rejected the initial amendments to the LG act.

"The style of governance in Sindh is causing a great deal of unrest among the people and has turned into feelings of alienation," a joint statement emerging from the conference read at the time.

However, after further negotiations and deliberations, the government and opposition agreed to further amend the law as was reflected during a session of the Sindh Assembly in February of 2022.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, while referring to a Supreme Court's decision, said that the government, after consultation with opposition parties, had finalised the names of a select committee comprising members of both sides.

He added that the committee, after deliberation, will recommend amendments in light of the apex court's decision to empower the local bodies system and devolve resources to the grass-roots level.

The select committee comprised Haleem Adil Sheikh, Khurram Sher Zaman, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Arsalan Taj from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). At the same time, Mohammad Hussain, Kanwar Naveed Jameel and Javeed Hanif of MQM as well as Barrister Hassain Miraz and Nand Kumar Goklani of GDA would also be members, while Nasir Hussain Shah and Saeed Ghani were nominated to represent the PPP government.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2022.