ELECTIONS
SHIFTED TO DECEMBER
DECISION DUE TO FLOODS
The
new date of elections to the National Assembly was fixed for December 7, while
the, elections to the provincial assemblies would be held not later than
December 19.
In
a statement the President said that the decision to postpone the dates for
elections had been taken "after very careful consideration" of
various factors arising out of the unprecedented flood situation in
He
said the forthcoming elections were of supreme importance for the future of
Gen.
Yahya said the Government machinery, which would carry out various functions
connected with the elections, was now fully occupied with the very important
work of flood relief and practically the entire complement of the provincial
Government, from the highest to the lowest, would continue to be engaged in
relief work for months. It was, therefore, a question of weighing the relative
importance and urgency of relief work and election work.
The
President declared he did not have the slightest hesitation in deciding that
the alleviation of human misery must take precedence over everything else. The
flood waters might start receding soon, but there would always be the possibility
of a second flood in September. In this state of uncertainty it was impossible
to predict if conditions would be suitable for elections on October 5, the
President said. It was, therefore, considered necessary to shift the date in
such a manner as to ensure minimum interference in the holding of the national
polls.
Explaining
the difficulty in holding the elections on the original date, Gen. Yahya said
for the purpose of holding elections the Chief Election Commissioner had to use
practically the entire Government machinery. Officials at various levels had to
perform different functions. The Sub-divisional Officers and Circle Officers
would have to carry out the duties of Returning Officers and Assistant
Returning Officers.
The
polling booths had to be established in various localities and many other
related steps had to be taken. But the machinery, which would carry out various
functions connected with the elections, was presently fully occupied with the
very important work of flood relief.
The
President further said that a large section of the population had to be
evacuated to safer areas. It was not certain if they would be available in
their constituencies for voting on the originally appointed date. The danger of
epidemics loomed large and while everything would be done to ensure that these
did not spread, it could not but cause some uncertainty about the suitability
of October 5 as the election date.
(THE
DAWN, Karachi--August 16, 1970)
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