ISLAMABAD: The fate of local government elections in Karachi still hangs in the balance and a final decision to this effect will be taken by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday (today).

Following a third request by the Sindh government seeking postponement for three months the LG polls in seven districts of Karachi scheduled for October 23, the ECP met here on Monday with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair. Besides senior officials of the commission, the meeting was attended by Interior Secretary Yousaf Nasim Khokar.

The Sindh government maintains that there were difficulties in providing security for the polls as it is facing a shortage of 16,000 police personnel.

The ECP directed the interior ministry to let it know by Tuesday if it can make up for the shortfall of 16,000 personnel for election duty.

Sindh government has sought postponement of Oct 23 polls for three months

A source in the ECP said an assurance by the interior ministry for provision of the required force could make the holding of polls possible. He said the defence secretary had already expressed his inability to provide army and Rangers personnel for static deployment.

The source said the LG elections need elaborate security as the sentiments of voters are high in electoral exercises at grassroots level.

The latest letter written by the Sindh government to the ECP — the third in a series of communications sent out this month — has highlighted that Karachi is the most populous division of the country. “The population of this city is almost equal to that of Balochistan province. It is the densest division and metropolitan city of the country so it needs extensive arrangements during elections,” it said.

The letter says that around 5,000 polling stations will be set up for the LG elections, out of which around 1,305 were classified as highly sensitive and 3,688 as sensitive due to the specific history of the city and past elections.

The security arrangements are aimed at ensuring peaceful conduct of the elections and restoration of law and order, it stated, adding that 39,293 police personnel would be required for the elections. Of these, 12,465 would be from districts of Karachi, while 10,042 personnel would be provided by the units. There are currently 22,507 police personnel and a shortfall of 16,786 personnel.

“Before the recent floods, 14,958 police personnel were to be provided from the interior districts of Sindh. It was also planned to take up 7,150 reserve personnel to fill this gap, but after the floods, Karachi police were required to provide additional personnel to the flood-affected districts,” the letter said. Besides, services of about 7,000 private guards were to be hired before the floods, it added.

The Sindh government said it was planned that officials from the excise police, forest department, fisheries and anti-encroachment force would also participate in the local bodies’ elections. The letter said that since a large number of IDPs had shifted to different districts of Karachi, police deployment was necessary to ensure their safety.

The letter said the flood-affected people in Malir district and its rural areas had been temporarily housed in schools, which were also proposed as polling stations. In the meantime, it added, “efforts are being made to shift them to other places. This is why we request that the local bodies’ elections in Karachi be postponed for three months so that the elections could be conducted transparently without any disturbance of law and order”.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2022