Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced early Friday that Karachi, Hyderabad, and Dadu will not hold local government elections on January 15, drawing strong criticism from the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
The Sindh government withdrew the notification on Karachi’s constituency delimitations due to MQM-P concerns, the information minister said in a press conference.
“They (MQM-P) are our allies in the federal government, and we take the concerns of our allies very seriously,” the minister said, denying the decision was forced.
After the MQM-P threatened to block local body polls, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah convened a late-night cabinet meeting.
The Sindh government canceled the second round of LG elections on July 24 last year due to flooding and a lack of security and police. As a result, the elections were postponed on August 28, October 23, and today, January 15, for the fourth time.
On Thursday, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the “rebranded” MQM-P factions, warned that they would “fight” for their “rights” if their concerns about the local body polls were not addressed.
The information minister later stated in the presser that Tando Allahyar, Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, and Jamshoro will hold elections as scheduled despite the delays in the three districts.
The Sindh government is ready to hold elections in these districts, so residents should prepare. However, Memon said these districts will not delay elections.
The army had excused itself through the General Headquarters (GHQ) due to the border situation and militancy, and there were not enough police to staff polling stations.
The information minister said the Sindh cabinet would meet again tomorrow at 11 am to decide when the first- and second-phase representatives will take their oaths.
Memon replied, “The election commission has its rules of business, and so do the honorable courts, and we will also have to see what they decide.”
The information minister said the government could not decide because the matters were sub judice and the institutions heard cases about it.
“Also, MQM-P has been our ally, and they are our allies still in the federal government,” Memon said.
After the announcement, an MQM-P delegation thanked the Sindh government for delaying local body polls.
Farooq Sattar led the MQM-P delegation with Wasim Akhtar, Faisal Subazwari, and Mustafa Kamal. Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Food Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Provincial Minister Taimur Talpur, and Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab also attended.
