The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday barred the Sindh government from appointing new administrators for Karachi and Hyderabad ahead of the planned local government elections, declaring the move illegal, Aaj News reported.

In a letter to the Sindh Local Government Department, ECP’s Sindh chapter said such appointments less than a month before the local government elections in the province were illegal and against Paragraph 3 of the election rules.

The development comes days after the Sindh government appointed new administrators in Hyderabad and Karachi’s Korangi and East districts in line with the accord signed between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) before the latter joined the new coalition government in the centre.

Earlier in the month, a new administrator in Karachi was appointed by the Sindh government under the same accord.

Muhammad Farooque, an officer of grade 18, was appointed administrator of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in place of the deputy commissioner of Hyderabad, who had been additionally holding this charge.

Farooque had been earlier working as an administrator, at Worker Model School, SITE Hyderabad, of Sindh Workers Welfare Board and was sent to the Local Government Department on a one-year deputation just a day earlier on Monday.

Syed Shakeel Ahmed, an officer of grade 18, has been appointed administrator of Karachi’s District Municipal Corporation East in place of Rehamatullah Shaikh, who has been asked to report to the Local Government Department. Ahmed had been earlier working as an administrator, at Worker Model School.

Likewise, Muhammad Sharif, a grade-18 officer, has been appointed administrator of the DMC Korangi in place of Javed-ur-Rehman Kalwar, who has been asked to report to the LG department. Sharif had earlier been working as director (charged parking) at the DMC Central.