All Parties Conference (APC), on Tuesday discussed issues and recommendations regarding upcoming Local Government (LG) elections-2015 in Sindh province, organized by Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Sindh . The conference was attended by the representatives of Pakistan people's Party (PPP), Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League (Functional), Jamaat-e-Islami, Sindh United Party (SUP), Awami Tehreek (AT), Awami National Party (ANP), Nizam-e-Mustafa, Sindh Taraqipasand Party and others.
President, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Sindh Chapter, Ismail Rahu announcing the resolutions of the APC, said the Conference had voiced its concerns over the current de-limitations in the province and had completely rejected those which had made the upcoming LG elections-2015 suspicious.
He said that de-limitations should be made with the consultation of all political parties and stakeholders to make the elections fair and transparent. Rahu said that for making the elections neutral and transparent, the management of the elections and monitoring be handed over under the supervision of judiciary instead of the provincial bureaucracy. Army and Rangers be deployed inside and outside of the polling stations during voting process, he stressed.
Rahu said LG elections should be conducted in one go in place of organising those in phases. He also demanded that political workers should not be revenged for participating in the elections and they be given freedom to participate in the run for LG polls. Rahu said, "We all are endeavouring to make our institutions in the country strong and strengthening the democracy."
Earlier, Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional), Syed Muzafar Ali Shah said that Central government took about 65 years in devolution of powers to the provinces and now the provinces were reluctant to give their powers to the lower level. He was of the view that Sindh Local Government (LG) Act -2015 was against the ruling of Court. Sindh government should make amendment to the act, he emphasised.
He said that his party presented its recommendations in LG act in Sindh Assembly but those were rejected because they were in minority in the house. He said that the basic purpose of the elections was proper de-limitations and no census was held for a long time. He also gave a proposal to form a committee to resolve and deal with the matters related to Local Government elections as well follow the legal procedures with regard to anomalies in the elections.
Leader of the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ali Zadi said that delimitations in the province without census a big drama. He said that upcoming LG elections were being hold on the basis of census of 1998 when the population of the Karachi was approximately 1 crore. Zadi said that fresh census should be hold in the country. Giving his suggestions on the LG elections he said that those should be organized in three phases and biometric system also be introduced.
Jamaat-e-Islami's leader, Muhammad Hussain Mehnati said that Local Bodies elections belonged to the common men. LG Elections in the province had been put off for the long time. Sindh Government had taken the whole election process in its hands, he added. Mehnati said that Election Commission was working under the compulsion due to the pressure.
He also demanded for taking all the parties in confidence on de-limitations in the province. Law should be implemented in the province to stop bogus voting and other wrong activities in the elections, he said. President, Awami Tahreek, Ayaz Latif Palijo speaking on Sindh LG Act said a delegation of ours should be sent to Election Commission against the vested act of the government. He said that Sindh Government did not take us as the stack holders in the province.
He also called for organising such APCs in various parts of the province. Chief of the Sindh United Party (SUP), Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah said that the first step to the LG Elections was de-limitation when that was not proper how we could go ahead. He said that provincial government made amendment to the LG law to delay the elections. Leader of Pakistan People's Party, Najmi Alam in response to the proposals and demands of the all parties present in the APC said that de-limitations were being done by the Election Commission and Sindh Government was only assisting to it. He said that it was PPP which talked about the provincial autonomy. Giving proposals he said LG elections be conducted in three phases He said that all people living in the Karachi should be given right to vote in the elections whether they belong to Kyberpakhtoon-khawa, or another province. Najmi also talked in favour of holding fresh census in the country.