The party leaders are expressing dissatisfaction with the results as the PPP celebrates its massive victory in the first round of Sindh’s local government elections, which were held on June 26 in 14 districts. Opposition parties have leveled severe allegations of election fraud and arm-twisting by the Sindh police against the Sindh administration. After rejecting the electoral process, the political parties in Sindh have requested that the ECP cancel the election and hold a new one. They claim that the PPP manipulated the election by deploying government, police, and local govt instruments.
In Pakistan, defeated political parties have never openly admitted defeat by admitting that they may not have been able to persuade or seduce voters. Our political leaders across the political spectrum would rather hide behind rigging claims than learn from failure and devise a better plan for the future. Opposition parties’ assertions that the PPP’s victory was rigged and controlled appear to be false. This victory, in my judgment, is not the result of widespread and systemic rigging. The PPP benefited from being the ruling party. Another aspect is that the PPP controls almost the entire political landscape of Sindh.
Women’s votes were critical to the success of the PPP. As a consequence of the social initiatives it funded for rural women in Sindh, the PPP has gained a significant edge among female voters. The PPP administration has done well in providing health care to citizens of rural Sindh. Numerous new hospitals have been developed to provide free medical treatments. On June 26, 14 districts in Sindh voted in local government elections, including Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Naushehro Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, and Tharparkar. Unfortunately, the elections were contaminated by violence and poor voter turnout.
The violence halted voting at 30 of the over 9,000 polling stations, took two lives, and injured almost a dozen others. Voting was also delayed in roughly 40 polling locations due to poor administration and erroneous printing of election symbols on ballots. Although the exact number of voters is unknown, early indications indicate a reduced turnout. High heat, voter apathy, and political parties’ failure to rally voters will all have contributed to low turnout. As previously stated, the PPP candidates dominated the first round of local government elections. According to unofficial data, the PPP has won almost 5,500 of the 6,277 seats.
Over 85% of the available seats are occupied. The opposition parties and independents combined for only 15% of the seats. In Sindh, the ruling party controls more than 90 percent of the seats in various districts. Candidates for the PPP easily won a number of municipal and town committee elections. The party has also gained substantial wins in crucial urban regions including Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Larkana, Shikarpur, Shaheed Benazir Abad (Nawab Shah), and Sukkur.
According to the figures, the PPP won 274 of the 354 municipal committee seats and 860 of the 946 local government delegates elected without opposition in 14 districts. Opposition parties were able to capture 80 seats by teaming up with independent candidates.
