"It is the ECP’s mandate to announce the complete schedule. The provincial government can’t interfere in such matters," Sindh Law Minister Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro.
KARACHI: The schedule for the local government elections in Sindh is expected to be announced on December 18, a month before the elections’ scheduled date as set by the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
“The ball is in ECP’s court now,” said Sindh Law Minister Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro. “It is ECP’s mandate to announce the complete schedule. The provincial government can’t interfere in such matters.” Dr Mandhro could not confirm the date when the schedule would be announced, but said that it was likely to be on December 18. Sindh Election Commissioner Iqbal Qadri also gave the same date, saying that the schedule had already been decided.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) deputy convener Nasir Jamal made it clear that his party has always been in favour of holding the polls at the earliest and that they were prepared for the elections on January 18, 2014.
The Awami National Party (ANP), however, sided with the Pakistan Peoples party-led government, saying that the elections were being imposed. “We’ll take part as compulsion,” said the party’s Sindh general secretary, Bashir Jan.
Pakistan Muslim League - Function’s leader Imtiaz Shaikh expressed his reservations over the elections and role of the Sindh government. “The delimitation of constituencies is an example of pre-election rigging,” Shaikh alleged. “Nevertheless, we will take part in the elections.”
According to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, the government finally agreed to the elections in January as they “did not want any confrontation.”
Justifying the government’s previous reasons for delaying elections, he said, “It is now the responsibility of the ECP to ensure the provision of magnetic ink and flawless enlistment of the voters.”
The minister said the Sindh government wanted to conduct the local body polls in March. “But since the ECP insisted on holding the local body polls on the given schedule, the government conceded.” He said the Sindh government wanted more time so that all the contestants could have enough time to prepare for the elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2013.
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