ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday postponed the second phase of local body elections in Sindh scheduled for July 24. Now the second phase of LG elections will take place on August 18.
According to a spokesperson, the ECP also postponed the NA-245 by-polls in Kaarchi, scheduled for July 27. The by-polls will now take place on August 21.
The spokesperson said Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja presided over a meeting wherein it was decided to postpone the second phase of the local body elections after it received requests from the MQM-P, GDA, chief secretary Sindh, and provincial election commissioner.
In a press release issued by the ECP confirmed that CEC Raja had chaired a meeting where the body reviewed different applications it had received for the postponement of the second phase of the local body elections and NA-245 by-polls. The applications had requested that the polls be held after Muharram.
The meeting also reviewed the reports submitted by the Met Office and provincial election commissioner. The Met Office had informed the ECP of its rain forecast in its report.
On the other hand, the provincial election commissioner in his report had requested the ECP to postpone the polls as it feared the rains may affect the electoral bodies’ ability to conduct the polls and warned of low voter turnout.
“This decision has been made based on the report submitted by provincial election commissioner Sindh, requests from people and report submitted by the Met Office,” said the spokesperson while shedding light on the reasons behind the postponement.
The second phase of the local government polls was to take place in the 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad division on July 24.
