MQM-P seeks suo motu over LG poll ‘rigging’

Petition states election conducted in illegal, unconstitutional manner

KARACHI:

The convener of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial to take suo motu notice over 'irregularities' in the second phase of the local body elections in urban Sindh.

The petition filed by Tarqi Mansoor Advocate stated that the elections in urban Sindh were conducted in an illegal and unconstitutional manner. The 22nd constitutional amendment was violated in the elections process, it contended. Despite the fact that the quorum for the election commission was not complete, the notification for the poll schedule was issued. International laws were also ignored in conducting local elections.

The rights of the citizens of Sindh were denied in the elections in the disputed constituencies, it continued.

It maintained that the ECP quorum comprised of one chief election commissioner and two members from July 25, 2021 to May 30, 2022. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, seats remained vacant for ten months. Under this situation, the ECP was not authorised to issue any notification, it stated.

The application pointed out that the ECP notified the delimitation schedule and constituencies with an incomplete of quorum, which was a violation of Section 218 (2) of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016.

It cited the notifications of November 19, 2021 and December 28, 2021, and the ensuing delimitation of towns and unions an open violation of the Constitution.

It added that the LG election schedule for phase one on April 13, 2022 and phase two on April 29, 2022 and holding the election on January 15, 2023 on the basis of the voter list of 2021 was also illegal.

The petition stated that the Election Commission has also violated key Articles 4, 5, 9, 10A, 8, 17, 32, 37, 140A and 218 (2) of the Constitution.

Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stated in the petition that on these grounds, the municipal elections held on January 15, phase 1 and 2 should be declared null and void.

A copy of the request was sent to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Cell in Geneva as well. References to the Geneva Convention have also been included in the application.

Copies were also sent all judges of the Supreme Court, the president and prime minister, the Sindh governor and chief minister, the chief election commissioner, election commissioners of all provinces, the chief secretary, the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the chairman of the Free and Fair Election Network.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2023.