ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday rejected a letter of Sindh government seeking postponment of second phase of local government elections in the province and ordered to conduct the polls on January 15, as scheduled.
The Sindh government had again asked the ECP to postpone the local body elections in Karachi division and Hyderabad districts citing delimitation issue and non-availability of army troops for deployment at the polling stations.
In the fresh letter to the provincial election commissioner, the Sindh government stated the ECP, through his Jan 13 order, rejected withdrawal of notification regarding the number of Union Committees in the Karachi division and Hyderabad district.
On the other hand, in response to stationing of the army and Rangers outside polling stations in Karachi, Hyderabad and Thattha, the GHQ has excused from sparing soldiers for the static stationing.
According to the Interior Ministry, the matter of the army and Rangers deployment was brought up with the GHQ which responded that such a huge number of static deployments were not feasible and that the first-level static deployment was the province s responsibility.
The GHQ has reportedly already informed the Interior Ministry that static deployment was not feasible at sensitive polling stations and that it was not practicable to provide security protection for election personnel and equipment. According to the GHQ, the Election Commission should designate 500 important polling stations so that Rangers could be stationed outside those locations.
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