ISLAMABAD: The local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on January 15, 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced on Tuesday.

A five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, which had reserved its decision on the petitions against the delay in the LG elections on November 15, ordered the inspector general of police and interior secretary to provide security for the local bodies’ elections. It also ordered institutions concerned to complete the security arrangements. The written order would be issued later in the day.

The decision was expected to announce the decision at 11:30am today (Tuesday), later the timing was changed to 3pm. The ECP rejected the Sindh government’s petition to delay LG polls.

“The PTI would choose its mayor on January 15,” PTI leader Ali Zaidi told reporters. He accused the PPP of using the state machinery in the first phase of the local bodies elections.

Earlier, this month the provincial government requested to delay the LG elections for 90 days, prompting the ECP’s ire that accused the PPP-led government of usurping the commission’s power.

Reacting to the development, journalist Shaukat Piracha said that local government elections in Sindh’s urban centres, Karachi and Hyderabad, were consistently delayed.

“You might remember that the MQM had approached the Supreme Court under Article 140-A (local government) of the Constitution and the matters between the MQM and PPP pertaining to administrative powers and departments… on which the federal government [PML-N] had become the guarantor,” he said as he had joined Aaj News to comment on the country’s top electoral authority’s decision.

Such a consensus was reached between the two parties’ days before the vote of no-confidence against the-then prime minister Imran Khan. The MQM had decided to support the multi-party confab in the no-trust vote, which stirred the treasury benches led by PTI.

“So this is all the background because of which it was delayed,” Piracha said.

The decision comes against the backdrop of the Sindh High Court’s November 18 decision to conduct local government elections within two months. Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab welcomed the decision, saying that the provincial government conducts it within the given time as the ECP has to give the date under Article 218 (election commission) of the Constitution.

“I think there is no hurdle,” he said in response to a query. “But, the legalities… for example if someone challenges the SHC decision in the Supreme Court so then it can be delayed.”

“It was binding for the Sindh government and the ECP to hold polls under the ruling of the SHC,” Piracha said.

He added that the ECP does not have to give a decision but issue a schedule and this is what they did today. He was of the view that the conduct of LG elections in Karachi and Hyderabad does not become such a big issue as in Punjab or Lahore where there is fog.

To another query, he said that under Article 220 (executive authorities to assist Commission, etc) of the Constitution it was a must for the federal and provincial authorities to abide by the ECP decision.

Giving his expert opinion, Piracha said the MQM would have a challenge in form of PTI as the PPP does not have high stakes.