ISLAMABAD: Mismanagement witnessed during the recently held local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has forced the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consider the proposal to hold LG polls in Sindh and Punjab in phases.

The idea came under discussion during a meeting that ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad held with local government secretaries of Sindh and Punjab on Thursday. Election commissioners of the two provinces also attended the meeting, according to informed sources.

Take a look: ECP ‘ready’ for LG polls in Punjab, Sindh on Sept 20

The meeting deliberated on ways to prevent mismanagement and violence during the upcoming LG elections in the two provinces, an ECP official told Dawn.

It decided to present to the ECP a proposal to hold the elections in three stages, he said, adding that if the proposal was approved then the Supreme Court would be approached to review its verdict.

The ECP had earlier prepared a plan to hold the polls in the two provinces in phases but it was rejected by the apex court which directed the commission to conduct the elections on a single day on Sept 20.

He said that delimitation exercise in Sindh and Punjab was to be completed by July 28 after which a schedule for LG polls would be announced.

He said about 120 million ballot papers were required to be printed for Sindh and more than 300m for Punjab and the government-run printing presses did not have the capacity to print the papers in the stipulated period.

Published in Dawn June 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play