According to Express News on Monday, the Sindh government has reportedly written another letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay the elections, which were originally scheduled for January 15 in Karachi. As a result, the local body elections are likely to be postponed for the seventh time.
According to sources, the PPP-led provincial government cited the MQM-Pakistan's demand for new constituency delimitation as the reason for delaying the local body elections in the letter.
Additionally, the provincial government has referred to the Supreme Court petition regarding the delimitation.
The Sindh advocate general's thoughts on the changes to local government constituencies and other legal issues were included in the letter that was sent to the provincial election commissioner.
According to sources, the new delimitations can be held in light of the court order and Sindh advocate general's opinion, which could once more delay the city's local government elections.
Read also: War game: The ECP announced in November that local government elections in the Karachi and Hyderabad divisions would take place on January 15, 2023. PPP and MQM remain at odds over the delimitation process.
The Sindh government's repeated requests that the necessary police officers were busy with flood relief operations have resulted in multiple postponements of the elections, which were originally scheduled for July 24.
In addition, the MQM-Pakistan has already criticized the unfairness of the delimitations conducted in Karachi by the PPP-led Sindh government and the Election Commission.
However, the MQM is not the only political party dissatisfied with the delimitations; other political parties and independent observers have also voiced their displeasure with the procedure.