May 14, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1427

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KARACHI, May 13: The Awam Dost panel has decided to boycott Sunday’s local body elections in Ghotki in protest against alleged partisan decisions of the chief election commissioner and the ‘bizarre moves’ by the regime which led to cancellation of the Sindh High Court’s interim order against the holding of the elections scheduled for May 14.

The decision of the Karachi coordination committee of the People’s Party Parliamentarians was announced by the PPP’s provincial chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

Mr Shah said the committee had noted that leader of the house in the Senate Wasim Sajjad had taken the application of one Asghar Shah to the Chief Justice of Pakistan on May 10, seeking to set aside the SHC Sukkur bench’s interim order passed on May 9.

He claimed that as per reports the CJ heard the petitioner’s counsel in his chamber on May 11 and issued ex parte cancellation order in an ‘unprecedented manner’ and contrary to his own directives to the provincial courts.

Mr Shah said litigation against the holding of local body elections started in May 2005 when the Sindh government made massive changes in delimitation of union councils in the district in a bid to create a favourable situation for its allies, particularly the Mahars.

The Awam Dost panel challenged the changes in the SHC and a bench presided over by Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmad cancelled the provincial government’s notification. In the second attempt, he said, the provincial government demarcated the union councils in Ghotki by dividing tapedari circles.

This was again challenged by the Awam Dost panel in the SHC’s Sukkur bench, which cancelled it. In the third attempt, the Sindh government did the same thing and the SHC Sukkur bench again suspended the notification on May 9 and postponed the elections scheduled for May 14, he said.

He claimed that the chief election commissioner had brought forward the date of the election scheduled for June 3 to May 14 while the petition was pending in the SHC. Certified copies of the Sukkur bench’s interim order were issued on May 10 evening in Sukkur. The same day, Mr Sajjad took an application of one Asghar Shah to the chief justice of Pakistan. The CJ heard him in his chamber on May 11 and suspended the SHC’s interim order.

The PPP leader said the applicant Asghar Shah had never been a party to the year-long litigation on the issue.

The PPP leader claimed that the act had eroded confidence of people in the superior judiciary and exposed the alleged partisan role of the chief election commissioner.

He said the CJ had ruled earlier that no order should be issued by the judges in chamber without giving notices to the other party.

He said that when counsel of Saifullah Dharejo, Farook Naek and Abdul Lateef Khosa met the CJ in the chamber the following morning ad requested hearing of the case on that day or suspension of the order, the CJ declined the request.

The Sindh PPP chief said the Karachi coordination committee of the party had unanimously decided to boycott the elec-tions.