KARACHI, Dec 4: A major controversy surrounded the local government elections in the province on Wednesday after Sindh Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon termed the election commission announcement of a fresh date ‘without consulting the government’ a violation of the Sindh Local Government Act 2013, while the provincial election commissioner said the revised date was suggested by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and not by the commission.

Reiterating the demand for holding the local government elections in March 2014, the minister said Section 34(2) of the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 clearly stated that the date for LG polls would be decided by the provincial government in consultation with the provincial election commission (PEC).

The Jan 18 date, which had not been announced by the provincial government, was also against the Sindh Assembly resolution and the stand of the Sindh government, he added.

When the attention of provincial election commissioner S.M. Tariq Quaderi was drawn towards the stand of the Sindh government, he said the date of Jan 18 was suggested by the apex court and not by the commission. However, he added, the Sindh government had shown its agreement stating that it was prepared to hold the LG elections on Jan 18.

Besides, he said, that now the election matter was in court after the delimitation of the LG constituencies was challenged in the Sindh High Court. As such whatever decision was announced by the court, the commission would follow it.

Advocate General for Sindh Khalid Javed Khan, who represented the province in the Supreme Court and the election commission, said the date of Jan 18 was neither given by the apex court nor was it with the consultation of the Sindh government, as such it was a violation of Section 34(2) of the LG Act 2013.

He said it was a wrong impression that the election date of January was suggested by the Supreme Court as at the time of hearing he was present and the commission was asked to announce a schedule after consultation with the respective provincial government.

But the commission without taking the provincial governments on board announced the elections date as all provinces were demanding that the date be further advanced.

Mr Memon, talking to a group of media persons in his office on Wednesday, suggested to the commission that the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh be held on the same date.

In reply to a question, he said Sindh had been demanding elections in March instead of January 18 to ensure conduct of the elections in a transparent and fair manner.

He also said that holding of the LG elections in haste on Jan 18 without ensuring the use of magnetic ink, corrected voters’ lists and enlisting of new voters would amount to compromising the credibility of polls.

The Sindh government demand that the polling schedule be advanced to March was aimed at ensuring the local government polls in a fair and transparent manner, he said.

The minister said that the provincial election commissions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab had yet to finalise their election schedule for the LG polls in their respective province, the provincial election commission of Sindh should also take measures for holding the LG polls on the same date in all three provinces, he said.

Meanwhile, Sindh chief secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotiana appreciated the training process initiated by the provincial election commission in connection with the local government elections, adds APP.

He advised the participating master trainers, who will train returning officers, to ensure their active participation in the training.

He expressed these views while speaking at the training programme for master trainers for the electoral process in a hotel on Wednesday.

He assured the PEC of necessary assistance in holding fair LG elections in the province.