ISLAMABAD - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that the local governments elections in Karachi will not be delayed in any case.
He said this during a hearing of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) application regarding the objections to the voter lists in the Karachi municipal elections here yesterday. On the occasion, the MQMP lawyer objected that the use of old voter list for elections is against the law.
The CEC, however, stated that the party has been approaching courts even before this hearing and inquired “why doesn’t [the] MQM-P bring up all the issues at once?” “If there is any other issue, bring it forward and we will decide together,” he remarked.
The CEC also stated that the MQM-P also contested the 2018 elections and by-elections and that the LB polls are being held on the same lists on which it contested the previous elections. In his remarks, the MQM-P’s counsel raised another objection and said that the ECP was incomplete on April 29, 2022.
Irked by the remark, the CEC said that there is no mention of the ECP being incomplete in the submitted application by the party. “Stick to the petition, don’t talk about other things. The elections will not be delayed in any case,” he added.
On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Sindh Fawzi Zafar requested the court to give him time till next week to give arguments on the application. The electoral watchdog then terminated the Sindh government’s right to argue citing a lack of preparation.
While giving his arguments during the hearing, a representative of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) told the ECP that “every possible effort is being made to postpone the local government elections.” JI furthered that LG polls should be held on January 15. Director General Law ECP requested to reject the application of the MQM-P and said that voter lists are updated with time. Subsequently, the ECP reserved its decision on the petitions related to voter lists in the Karachi LB elections. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) summoned Imran Khan in the case related to his removal as PTI Chairman, following his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference. The electoral watchdog summoned Imran January 11 in the matter of possessing chairmanship of the party despite his disqualification. The commission, in its notice, said that Imran Khan’s lawyer can also appear before the body. However, Imran Khan meanwhile challenged the notice sent to him by the top electoral body. He also moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the notice.