— PTI, JI criticise postponement move
— Kurram by-polls scheduled for Oct 30
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday once again postponed the local government (LG) elections in Karachi, citing unavailability of security personnel to provide security to voters.
The move triggered hue and cry by political parties as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) criticised the decision while Jamat-i-Islami (JI) announced to challenge the decision in the apex court.
A high level meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja decided to meet again after a fortnight to get feedback from the provincial government and other law enforcement agencies for conducting LG polls as soon as possible.
The meeting accepted request from the Sindh government and postponed the LG elections in seven districts of Karachi scheduled for October 23 for three months.
“The ECP had no other option but to postpone the LG elections as peaceful conduct of the election and protection of the voters was its top priority,” said the spokesman.
He said the decision was taken in the best interest of public to ensure their safety and security as the elections required static deployment of law enforcement personnel in 5,000 sensitive and most sensitive polling stations, which was refused by the Interior Ministry.
The commission decided to hold by-elections in NA-45 Kurram on October 30 and directed the concerned to complete their arrangements for holding free, fair and impartial elections.
Earlier, the ECP had also postponed the Kurram by-elections scheduled for October 16 due to the law and order situation in the constituency.
In its request, the Sindh government had stated that there were difficulties in providing security for the polls as it is facing a shortage of 16,785 police personnel.
The interior ministry had informed the ECP that the Army and Rangers could be provided as a quick reaction force.
SCHEDULE FOR NA-45 KURRAM BY-POLL
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced schedule for by-elections to NA-45 Kurram constituency, which was postponed due to law and order situation.
According to the schedule, the polling for the vacant seat of NA-45 constituency will be held on Oct 30 and the necessary instructions have been issued in this regard. The Kurram by-election was originally postponed from Oct 16 due to the law and order situation in the constituency.
