The Sindh government approved a proposal of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday, notifying an increase in the number of Union Committees (UCs) in Karachi Division.
According to a notification released by the Local Government Department, the Sindh government has added 53 new Union Committees (UCs) to the Karachi Division, bringing the overall number of UCs to 299.
“The announcement will be applicable for future local government elections,” it noted.
According to sources, the increased number of committees would have no effect on the outcomes of the recently held local government (LG) elections. According to sources, Mayor Karachi would be elected on the basis of 246 Union Committees.
According to sources, the Sindh government issued the notification on the directions of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership in response to the MQM-P’sdemand.
Another demand made by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) when it split from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and joined the Pakistan Democratic Movement was an increase in the number of Karachi Union Committees (UCs) (PDM).
The MQM-P has postponed their sit-in in Karachi.
It is worth noting that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has postponed their Karahi sit-in over ‘controversial’ local government (LG) polls, ‘flawed’ delimitations, and voter lists, which was set for February 12.
Addressing a press conference along with Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, party Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced that his party was postponing the Karachi sit-in until the peace exercises were underway.
“We are always ready to sacrifice our political interests for national security,” Khalid Maqbool said, pointing out that the country’s stability was associated with the peace and stability of Karachi.
He further said that not a single party denied ‘malpractices’ in delimitation of constituencies. However, he said, they will not withdraw from their demands regarding the constituencies. “We will raise the issue again after the naval exercises conclude,” he added.
MQM-P expressed reservations regarding the delimitations and voters lists ahead of the second phase of local government (LG) polls in Sindh including the Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions.
After MQM-P’s demand, the Sindh government announced to postpone the Karachi and Hyderabad LG polls, however, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected the provincial government’s notification to postpone polls and ruled that the local bodies elections will be held as per schedule on January 15.
