Karachi: The Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM) decided to boycott the polling process at the eleventh hour as the residents of Karachi and Hyderabad, the two main cities of Sindh, on Sunday participated in the much-anticipated local government elections.
The polling was conducted from 8 am to 5 pm. The turnout of voters generally remained low during most part of the day as polling picked up pace in the afternoon. A phenomenal cold weather, uncertainty about the elections as to whether they would be held or postponed again, security threats, and a boycott call by MQM kept the voters away from the polling stations.
The local government polls in the two cities were deferred thrice last year due to heavy monsoon rains and floods in the province.
MQM before the 2018 general elections was the dominant political force in urban parts of Sindh. Its leaders earlier also served as Karachi mayors since the late 80s. In the 2018 general polls, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured the majority of Karachi-based seats in National and Sindh assemblies.
MQM decided to stay away from the elections to protest against what it called highly controversial delimitation of the constituencies to conduct the polls. It repeatedly demanded that the delimitation issue should first be resolved before the polls. The MQM believes the uneven delimitations in Karachi unduly favours the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Hectic negotiations took place between the Sindh government’s representatives and the MQM leadership to sort out the delimitation problem. Reports kept circulating on social media platforms that the Sindh government would promulgate an ordinance as a result of its talks with the MQM to defer the polls again for resolving the delimitation controversy.
In a video message released late on Saturday evening, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, put to rest the rumours that the provincial government would promulgate any ordinance to defer the polls.
After the boycott of the MQM, PPP, PTI, and Jamaat-e-Islami are the main contenders in the field to grab the coveted position of Karachi’s mayor.
PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, appealed to the residents of Karachi and Hyderabad to come out of their homes in large numbers to elect their local government representatives to change the destiny of their native city.
He expressed determination that the PPP would clinch the post of Hyderabad Mayor while Karachi Mayor would belong to the ruling coalition Pakistan Democratic Movement.
The polling process remained largely peaceful in Karachi. Around 26,000 personnel of police and other law-enforcement agencies performed poll-related security duties. At a number of places minor clashes took place between rival political activists but the security personnel quickly reached the troubled spots to maintain security.
A total of 1,32,83,696 voters of Karachi, Hyderabad, and adjoining districts were registered to cast their votes. A total of 8,706 polling stations were established for the elections out of which around 5,000 polling stations were in Karachi.
