Naushero Feroze delimitation: ECP to finalise constituencies before general elections

Bench disposes contempt plea, asks election commission to submit compliance report.

KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan will review and approve proposals for the delimitation of electoral constituencies in Naushero Feroze before the announcement of the upcoming general election’s schedule.

This undertaking was given by a federal law officer to the division bench of the Sindh High Court hearing a plea seeking contempt proceedings against the provincial chief secretary and provincial election commission for allegedly defying court’s order to redraw constituencies.

Politician Syed Mureed Ali Shah had gone to the court, alleging that the chief secretary and provincial election commission authorities had deliberately not implemented directions issued by the high court to them on April 19, 2012 to redraw the district’s constituency ahead of the next general elections.

In his petition, Shah submitted that the district, having a population of 828,975 according to the 1981 census, was bifurcated on November 5, 1989. In 1990, the then caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi allegedly influenced the delimitation process in his own interests, claims Shah.



Shah recalled that on April 19, 2012 the Sindh High Court, while disposing of his petition, had directed the chief election commissioner and provincial election commissioner to redraw the constituency of the Naushero Feroze. He alleged that the election commission authorities had not taken steps for delimitation although all legal formalities had been fulfilled. He pleaded to the judges to initiate contempt proceedings against the chief and provincial election commissioners for flouting the court’s orders.

On Thursday, DAG Ashiq Raza informed the judges that a committee has been constituted to review the proposals received for delimitation of constituencies, adding that the committee will forward them to the Election Commission for approval within seven days. “The proposals shall be notified in the official gazette before the schedule of the upcoming general elections,” he assured.

In view of such undertaking, the bench disposed of the contempt plea with direction to the Election Commission of Pakistan to submit compliance report through the SHC’s Member Inspection Team-II.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2013.