ECP decides to hold local government polls in Karachi, Hyderabad as per schedule on Jan 15, rejecting the Sindh govt’s request

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to hold local government polls in Karachi and Hyderabad as per schedule on January 15, rejecting the Sindh government’s request on Friday.

The Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the decision after chairing a high-level meeting in the federal capital.

The development comes after the provincial government, in a surprise move had postponed the local bodies elections due to reservations of its coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) over existing delimitations.

It was the fourth time that the Sindh government tried to delay the local government elections.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had announced that the party will hold a sit-in outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office in Karachi today following the Sindh government’s election postponement announcement.

However, that did not happen amid ECP’s decision.