Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Ishtiaq Ahmad has said the Constitution allows the Commission to carry out delimitation, keeping in view the genuine complaints faced by the people of the area. Sources said that delimitation of constituencies is the exclusive authority of the ECP.
According to the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, the ECP does not need to wait for the census to delimit constituencies and to correct variations. This is part of their 5-year Strategic Plan (Strategic Goal 3). The Strategic Plan states that: "A transparent delimitation of constituencies will strengthen the trust of political forces. However, the ECP did not conduct delimitation, nor approached this issue in transparent manner. The ECP had four years to review delimitation. The ECP has right to receive and consider representations, hold inquiries, summon witnesses and record evidence, and shall prepare and publish in the official Gazette a preliminary report and list of constituencies specifying the areas proposed to be included in each constituency."
An official of ECP told Business Recorder that delimitation of Karachi will not affect the administrative powers of the commissioner and deputy commissioners of the city. The commission can undertake delimitation as it is needed and majority of the political back the move, he said, adding that apprehensions shown by a particular political party carries no weight.
However, it was also learnt that the commissioner and deputy commissioners of Karachi Division did not agree to administrative changes in the city during a recent meeting with Secretary ECP and representatives from Sindh. An official of Provincial Census Organisation, Karachi who wished not to be named said that "we have categorically told the ECP that under the present scenario, delimitation of Karachi is not possible without carrying out population census."
Sources claimed that the recent visit of Secretary ECP Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan to Karachi to build consensus among political parties to delimit Karachi did not produce any conclusive result. Secretary ECP returned empty handed after he was informed by not only the provincial administration but also MQM that delimitation process could not start without a population census.
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