KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finalised arrangements for the first phase of the local government elections in Sindh’s 14 districts which will be held tomorrow (Sunday), ARY News reported.
The polling will begin at 8:00am and continue till 5:00pm without any break.
The electoral body, in a statement issued here, said that the armed forces and Rangers personnel will patrol all the constituencies where elections are to be held, before and during the electoral process.
The ECP body has already directed the government of Sindh to deploy additional police force from other districts to the areas where elections are to take place.
Provincial Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan has asked the contesting political parties and candidates to abide by the law so that polling can be held in a fair and peaceful manner.
The 14 districts of Sindh where LG polls are being held include Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot and Tharparkar.
SHC verdict
It is worth mentioning here that the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday rejected pleas of major political parties, seeking a delay in the holding of local government elections in Sindh.
The SHC while rejecting the pleas to halt elections scheduled in the province in two phases on June 26 and July 24 directed the Election Commission of Pakistan
to hold the polls as per the schedule.During the hearing, Justice Junaid Ghaffar asked the ECP counsel why elections were delayed beyond a mandatory 120-day period. “Census and delimitation process led to the delay and as soon as the government approved the 2017 census we initiated the election process,” he said.
946 candidates elected unopposed
It is worth mentioning here that at least 946 candidates from 14 districts had been elected unopposed in the first phase of the LG polls in Sindh.
Data issued by the ECP shows that a total of 96 candidates from Kashmore Kandhkot, 70 from Qambar Shahdadkot, 135 from Jacobabad, 94 from Shikarpur, and 11 from Larkana, 65 from Mirpur Khas and 65 candidates from Umerkot have been elected unopposed.
CEC seeks army security for by-polls
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja Monday in a letter to COAS General Bajwa has sought military deployment during Sindh local bodies polls.
In a letter penned to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the CEC requested the deployment of the military to ensure law and order during upcoming Sindh LG polls, by-elections on 20 seats of Punjab Assembly and NA-245 by-election.
In the second phase, local bodies elections will be held in Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta divisions.
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