By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Voters in southern Pakistan lined up early on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second-to-last round of local government polls, a contest boycotted by a key ally of ruling collation, in Sindh province.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P is boycotting a long-awaited second phase of the local bodies’ elections being held in seven districts of Sindh — including in Karachi and Hyderabad — after election authorities had rejected its complaint on the delimitations in constituencies.
The MQM-P leaders urged citizens to stay at home and boycott vote.
Polling began at 8am and will continue till 5pm without any break.
Election Commission of Pakistan said over eight million voters are expected to cast their vote to elect local government representatives from among 17,863 candidates contesting for chairman and vice-chairman of the union committee and general members
As many as 8,876 polling stations — 4,997 in Karachi and 3,879 in Hyderabad divisions — have been set up. Around 8,153 of the polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ or ‘highly sensitive’.
A total of 830 candidates have been elected unopposed in 16 districts of two divisions, including seven in Karachi, and 823 in the Hyderabad division.
In Karachi, as many as 3,415 polling stations have been classified as sensitive, 1,496 as highly sensitive and 79 as normal.
Out of 2,674 polling stations in Hyderabad division, 1,270 are sensitive, 779 are highly sensitive and 625 are normal.
In Thatta and Sujawal all 1,008 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 185 highly sensitive.
A total of 9,078 candidates are contesting in nine districts of the Hyderabad division. Around 3,451,320 citizens would be exercising their right to vote, the ECP said.
Former prime minister Imran Khan urged residents of Karachi and Hyderabad to come out and vote for in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
“I appeal to all the voters to participate fully in the upcoming LG polls for the Karachi and Hyderabad division and support PTI, as we are fighting against all those parties who have been sucking the blood of this nation for the past 30 years,” Khan said in a video message on the party’s official Twitter handle.
The ECP has put strict security measures in place at all the polling stations.
“We have deployed 43,600 police force for election duties,” said Karachi Police chief Jawaid Alam Odho told reporters. Around 500 Rangers personnel will also be deployed at various locations.
CCTV cameras have also been installed at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations and a control room has been set up for monitoring.
The central control room has been established for three days and will continue to function uninterrupted until the results of Sindh’s LG polls are announced.
The second round of local government elections was scheduled to take place on July 24 last year, but the Sindh government refused to hold the polls on the lack of security and police presence due to the last year’s flooding.
The controversial delimitations have been the bone of contention between MQM-P and the PPP since December last year when they were implemented.
MQM-P and other opposition parties challenged the move in the Sindh High Court, but the petition was dismissed. MQM-P then approached the Supreme Court.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
