Local body elections were held on June 26 in 14 districts of Sindh, including Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Mirpur Khas Division, in which allegations of rigging by opposition parties surfaced.
Opposition leaders, especially PTI leader and former Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) leader, and former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar, not only slammed Sindh’s ruling PPP but also alleged rigging by the Election Commission. They also demanded the Election Commission take notice of the alleged fraud.
On the other hand, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said that the opposition was defeated in the local body elections. The PPP made it possible to achieve historic victories in all four towns and district councils. The Larkana mayor and district council chairman will be from the PPP.
Undoubtedly, according to the unofficial and unofficial results of the local body elections on June 27, the PPP won by a landslide and wiped out the PTI, GDA, and other parties. However, the allegations made by opposition leaders call into question the transparency of the election.
In the near future, on July 24, the second phase of local body elections in Sindh will be held in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad division, which includes 143 town committees, 14 district councils, 1 metropolitan corporation, and 45 town municipal administrations.
Earlier, the Sindh High Court had rejected the pleas of MQM, Jamaat-e-Islami, and PTI to postpone the local body elections. This decision of the High Court came to light four days ago.
MQM (P) lawyer and former federal law minister Farogh Naseem argued in court that the ECP’s response was not concrete and that the final electoral rolls would be available by August 12, hence elections should not be started.
In the court, the Election Commission said that the non-final lists are for the 2023 elections in which 27,000 candidates are in the fray for the local body elections for which over 50 crores has been spent. However, objections came from only 2% of the constituencies.
Prior to the local body elections, the Regional Election Commissioner had written a letter to the competent authority stating that complaints of fraud had been received in the past and there was a risk of clashes among political activists. Pakistan Army and Rangers should be deployed for security.
Surprisingly, 2,980 polling stations were declared highly sensitive during the local body elections in Sindh. Despite this, incidents of firing, clashes, scuffles, and killings were reported during the elections.
August will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of our beloved homeland. To date, holding free and fair elections in Pakistan has been a mystery, while freedom of expression is a basic right of every citizen. The government of the day will have to take steps to ensure the transparency of the elections.
