ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) has come out with yet another schedule by proposing holding of local government elections in Sindh and Punjab in three stages on Nov 14, 29 and Dec 19.

The new schedule was agreed upon at a meeting on Tuesday between ECP officials and secretaries of local governments of the two provinces.

Take a look: Court asks ECP, Punjab and Sindh govts to come up with dates for LG polls

The meeting was called in compliance with the directive of a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, which had taken up an application of the ECP seeking the court’s permission to delay the elections in Punjab and Sindh for at least 30 days in a phased manner.

The new schedule was submitted on Wednesday and the court said it would issue an appropriate order after going through it.

According to the last understanding with the court, the ECP was to conduct polls in the two provinces on Sept 26.

On March 5, the apex court had rejected a similar ECP request for holding the elections in Punjab and Sindh in three phases on Sept 30, Nov 4 and Dec 9. It ordered the commission to submit a new schedule for elections the same day on Sept 20.

The latest report submitted by the ECP on Wednesday said the two provincial governments had proposed holding of the elections in three phases in view of the difficulties they had faced because of rains and floods in most parts of Punjab and Sindh. Besides, practical difficulties will emerge if the polls are held on the same day in the two provinces in view of the shortage of resources and manpower as well as maintenance of law and order. Moreover, the report added, September and October would coincide with Haj and Muharram respectively.

Lessons learnt from the holding of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May which drew flak and became controversial for lack of transparency and allegations of rigging also forced the ECP to consider holding the elections in Punjab and Sindh in phases.

According to the new schedule, in the first phase elections will be held in Punjab districts of Lodhran and Vehari in Multan division; Okara in Sahiwal division; Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar in Bahawalpur division; Toba Tek Sindh in Faisalabad division; Sargodha division; Kasur and Nankana Sahib in Lahore division; Gujrat in Gujranwala division; and Rawalpindi and Attock in Rawalpindi division.

In the first phase in Sindh, the elections will be held in Sukkur, Ghotki and Khairpur districts in Sukkur division and Larkana, Qamber Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore in Larkana division.

The schedule for these districts will be announced on Sept 1 and elections will be held on Nov 14.

In the second phase, the polls in Punjab will be held in Khanewal in Multan division; Sahiwal in Sahiwal division; Faisalabad and Chiniot in Faisalabad division; Khushab and Mianwali in Sargodha division; Sheikhupura in Lahore division; Gujranwala, Hafizabad and M.B. Din in Gujranwala division and Chakwal and Jhelum in Rawalpindi division.

In Sindh, elections in the second phase will be held in Shaheed Benazirabad and Naushero Feroze in Shaheed Benazirabad division; Dadu, Matiari, Jamshoro, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Thatta, Sujawal and Badin in Hyderabad division; and Umerkot, Tharparkar, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas in Mirpurkhas division.

The schedule for these areas will be announced on Sept 21 and elections will be held on Nov 28.

In the third phase, the districts in Punjab selected for the elections are: Pakpattan in Sahiwal division; Layyah, Rajanpur, D.G. Khan and Muzzafargarh in D.G. Khan division; Jhang in Faisalabad division; Bhakkar in Sargodha division; Lahore in Lahore division; Sialkot and Narowal in Gujranwala division; Rahimyar Khan in Bahawalpur division; and Multan in Multan division.

For Sindh the districts in the third phase are: Karachi West, Karachi East, Karachi South, Karachi Central, Korangi and Malir in Karachi division; and Hyderabad division.

The schedule for these districts will be announced on Oct 14 and the elections will be held on Dec 19.

The ECP, however, has kept with itself the authority to exclude or include any district in the first, second or third phase on the request of the provincial governments.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play