33 candidates who had filed their nominations for the Local Government (LG) elections in Karachi and Hyderabad passed away waiting for the election to happen.
The second phase of the local election has been postponed repeatedly.
According to details provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), as many as 12 candidates for Union Council (UC) chairman and vice chairman have died since the time their nomination papers were submitted. Similarly, 22 candidates who were running for the district council, town committee, municipal committee and UC ward members seats also passed away.
Last year, the ECP had told the Sindh government that the second phase of the LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on July 24 but it was postponed due to floods.
The electoral body rescheduled the LG elections for August 28, 2022 but they were put off again due to the same reason.
On October 18, 2022, the ECP rescheduled the elections for October 23, 2022, but the provincial government sought their postponement for three months because it had deployed police in flooded areas, due to which it was unable to provide the required level of security to polling stations.
After repeated delays, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami moved the Sindh High Court. In November, the ECP announced January 15 as the new date.
