The chief election commissioner has said that the local government elections in Karachi will not be delayed at any cost as the ECP reserved its decision on the applications filed against to voter lists.
CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja on Friday heard the case regarding conducting LG elections in Karachi at the ECP office.
At the beginning of the hearing, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) counsel objected to using the old voter lists for elections, saying the practice would be against the law.
CEC Raja acknowledged that the MQM-P went to the courts even before this, asking why the party did not bring up all the issues together.
“If there is any other issue, bring it forward and we will decide together,” he remarked.
The MQM-P also contested the 2018 election and by-elections while elections were still being held on the lists on which it contested the first elections, it was pointed out.
The MQM-P’s counsel raised another point that the ECP was incomplete since April 29.
The CEC noted that there was no mention of the ECP being incomplete in its application. “Elections will not be delayed in any case. You sit and prepare the case,” he said.
The provincial government, on the other hand, asked the ECP for time till next week to give arguments on the application.
The ECP had set aside the Sindh government's right to argue due to lack of preparation.
The CEC stressed that the LG elections would not be delayed at any cost.
The representative of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) requested the ECP to hold the polls on January 15, noting that every possible effort was being made to postpone them.
ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal took the stand that with every passing day, more people were becoming eligible to vote.
“If MQM is to be believed, the election will never be held, and according to the law, only those who are on the list can vote until the election schedule is released,” he said.
The ECP’s director general law requested rejection of the MQM-P application, saying that voter lists were updated with time.
It was also clear in the statement that the LG elections would be held on the old lists as the election schedule was never withdrawn, the DG remarked.
The ECP reserved its decision on the petitions related to voter lists.
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