Over 38k cops to guard LG polls

An important meeting was held at the Sindh Secretariat on Thursday with provincial Chief Secretary, Dr Muhammad Suhail Rajput in the chair.

The meeting discussed the upcoming Local Government (LG) elections to be held in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad divisions.

Provincial Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan, Home Secretary Saeed Ahmed Mangrejo, IGP Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Additional IG Karachi Javed Alam Odho also attended the meeting. Commissioner Hyderabad and concerned DCs attended the meeting through video link.

The meeting reviewed security and other arrangements for the second phase of local body elections in the province.

Speaking at the meeting, the chief secretary said that elections will be held at 4,995 polling stations in Karachi and 3,971 in Hyderabad. CCTV cameras will be installed at 1,675 sensitive polling stations in Karachi and 1,015 highly sensitive polling stations in Hyderabad division.

The chief secretary directed the Karachi and Hyderabad commissioners to ensure relevant arrangements at all polling stations. “Sindh government is creating an environment of peace for the transparent, fair and secure general elections in the light of directives and recommendations of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said.

Provincial Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan said that local body elections would be held in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions on January 15.

Sindh IG, Ghulam Nabi Memon said that a security plan has been prepared for the local elections.

He said that 38,233 policemen in Karachi and 24,000 in Hyderabad will perform security duties.

All the deputy commissioners also gave a briefing on the security and transport plan of their respective districts and the overall situation of the polling stations.

Chief secretary directed Secretary school education and secretary college education to ensure uninterrupted electricity and water supply at polling stations established in schools and colleges.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced last month that the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions will be held on January 15, 2023.

The polls, originally scheduled for July 24, have been postponed thrice since due to the Sindh government’s repeated requests that the required police officials were busy with flood relief operations.

The ECP ordered the Sindh government, chief secretary, and inspector general to provide a sufficient number of security personnel for election duty at the polling stations, offices of district returning officers, returning officers (RO), polling staff, and transportation of polling material to and from the offices of the ROs.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2022.