KARACHI: On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared that elections for local governments in Hyderabad and Karachi would be held on January 15, 2023.The reserved decision, which the commission had reserved as of November 15, was made public by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The monsoon rains in Karachi forced the first postponement of the LG elections in July.
The Sindh government had requested that the election dates be changed on numerous occasions.The lack of security provided by the province government, which abstained from deploying law enforcement personnel because of floods, forced the ECP to repeatedly postpone the local government elections.
Election day was originally set for July 24, but it was postponed because to “poor weather and rains.” The provincial government then declined to provide protection for the polling that was scheduled for August 28 and October 24.
The provincial cabinet approved delaying the polls in Karachi Division for an additional 90 days in accordance with the 2013 Sindh Local Government Act earlier this month in its most recent effort to postpone the voting.The Sindh High Court ordered the ECP to publish a fresh date for the local government elections in Hyderabad and Karachi last week in a related case.
The high court ordered the commission to publish a new schedule for the local body elections in both cities after ruling on the arguments made by PTI and JI.
The order stated that “We would not go so far as to dictate the date of the election or direct how such ought to be held or policed, but would observe that the ECP may notify the polling date, ideally within a period of 15 days from the date of this order.”
