KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday postponed election on the thousands of indirect seats of all the local councils (from union councils to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation) citing that the matter was pending in court.

In a notification, issued on Thursday, the ECP said: “In partial modification of this commission’s notification of even number dated the 15th January 2016 and 12th February 2016, the Election Commission of Pakistan, because of matter being sub judice, hereby postpones the dates of poll [on indirect elections in Sindh].”

The notification says the polling on indirect seats of district councils, municipal corporations, district municipal corporations and the metropolitan corporation was to be held on Feb 20.

Besides, the polling on indirect seats of union councils, union committees, town committees and municipal committees across Sindh was to be held on Feb 22.

This was a second time that elections on the indirect seats were postponed this month. Earlier those elections were to be held on Feb 8 and 14.

The notification, though, gave no specific indication to the case(s) which led the ECP to postpone the election, it pertained to the appeal filed by the Sindh government in the Supreme Court against a judgement of the Sindh High Court, which restored a previous local government law and directed the ECP to fix a date to hold the elections of mayor and other local government representatives by secret ballot.

The SHC gave its decision in petitions filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and PML-Functional, asking it to annul the amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 passed by the Sindh Assembly last year which included one reserved seat for youth and 33pc reserved seat quota for women in every union council and union committee. The host of other changes included substituting the ‘show of hands’ with secret ballot for election of mayors and deputy mayors, which sparked a controversy in January when it was reversed by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.

The Supreme Court has stayed the election and fixed March 3 for a hearing.

Officials in the ECP said that with the issuance of the notification, the election on the reserved seats had been postponed across the province.

The whole issue vis-a-vis election on the reserved seats, which was earlier blamed on the Sindh government for allegedly delaying, will have to wait until it is re-notified.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2016