KARACHI: The Sindh government has conveyed to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that it could not hold local government elections in the province this year owing to its reservations on the census results, sources said on Friday.
According to sources, the local bodies’ polls could not be held in the country this year as the provincial government has conveyed to the ECP that it could not hold the polls in 2021.
“We have reservations on the census results. We could not hold the polls,” sources in the Sindh government said, adding that the government would challenge the CCI decision of accepting the census figures.
They said that the reservations on holding local bodies’ elections in the province during the ongoing year were conveyed by the provincial authorities during a previous meeting of the election body.
It was further conveyed, according to sources, that the government is currently engaged in the budget preparation process and it will respond on the matter in a detailed manner later.
In a related development earlier in the day, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Punjab advocate general on a contempt petition against the provincial government over alleged non-implementation of the apex court’s March 25 order regarding restoration of local government institutions in the province. The court also issued a notice to the chief secretary to submit his response to the petition by the next hearing.
