HYDERABAD: Sindh United Party (SUP) secretary general Amir Ali Thebo has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone phase-I and II of the local government elections in Sindh to avoid a possible law and order situation.

In a letter he has sent to the ECP, a copy of which was emailed to Dawn on Tuesday, Mr Thebo claimed that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party believed it would sweep the polls through rigging, which it intended to commit at all costs. This is against the law, equity and conduct of elections as guaranteed in the Constitution and is also violation of the Election Act, 2017.

He recalled that his party had in a press conference earlier suggested that elections in Sindh should be supervised by the judiciary or officers of good reputation from federal institutions like Wapda, National Highway Authority (NHA) and Pakistan Railways to avoid malpractices and ensure neutrality. But on the contrary, ECP delegated powers to Sindh government to hold elections, he regretted. As a result, he alleged, the Sindh government started pre-poll rigging.

Claims all DROs, ROs are partisan

Mr Thebo said that his party collected data which showed that the bureaucracy, right from the chief secretary and secretaries to lower level functionaries including revenue officials, police, teachers etc were supporting ruling party candidates.

“It’s shocking to write that all district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) nominated by the ECP are biased, partisan and have sympathies with ruling party candidates; and they all belong to revenue and education departments,” the SUP leader stated in his letter.

He said SUP observed instances of corrupt practices, use of government machinery to restrain candidates from elections, threats to workers of [PPP’s] opponents to force them to withdraw in favour of PPP candidates, as well as enforced disappearance of candidates and their proposers and seconders on the scrutiny day.

He stated that such incidents of violation of the Election Act 2017 and Representation of People Act 1976 had become a daily routine across Sindh since the announcement of the election programme. These incidents were covered by the media but, regretfully, ECP did not take notice of any such incident.

He said that in order to ensure free and fair elections, the ECP must look at implications if they were held in the prevailing conditions.

Mr Thebo said that SUP’s central executive committee apprehended that the situation might lead to a law and order situation.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2022