Several political parties, including its major allies, earlier on Sunday called on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to withdraw its decision to boycott the second phase of local body elections, which are scheduled to be held in several districts today. Sindh as well as in Karachi and Hyderabad Division.
Hours before the polls, MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced his party’s boycott of the “already rigged” polls after marathon consultations with various stakeholders.
The party’s statement came as it demanded fresh delimitation before the local body polls were held, and despite the Sindh government’s announcement of delaying the polls, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) insisted that they 15 January goes on without a hitch.
Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said in a press conference that MQM should have gone ahead and contested local elections.
“Every political party has reservations. The party also has reservations on constituencies, voter lists and census in Sindh,” the JI leader said.
However, he noted that the MQM-P was involved in approving the census during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. But he added that it is now the responsibility of the government and the ECP to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections.
Rehman condemned the MQMP and said the party gets upset when it faces failure “in its own endeavours”. “We would recognize that the party is strong if he leaves the government.”
“I wish the MQMP goes to the polls to know where it stands today,” he said, asserting that party workers are not standing with him.
Rehman also emphasized that Jamaat-e-Islami will emerge as a major party in Karachi. He said that the party will form the local government and will take everyone along after winning the elections.
PML-N leader and Home Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan expressed regret over MQMP’s decision to boycott the elections. However, he said the party was justified in its decision.
He said that in meeting their demands, the MQM-P struggled continuously and they also convinced the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with arguments in their case. Sanaullah said that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari also recognized the validity of their demands and directed his party to cooperate with the party.
The federal minister also criticized the ECP saying that it has failed to fulfill its responsibility when one union council had 90,000 voters on its list and the other had only 15,000 of them.
He said that Muttahida’s decision to withdraw from the elections had “discredited” the electoral process. Now, local elections “lack credibility and democratic values”, he explained.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Zaidi ridiculed MQMP’s decision and said that the party will not leave the government. He said that MQMP has a reasonable excuse for boycotting the elections.
The PTI leader added: “We have already said that the MQMP will boycott the elections. The party has no candidates to contest the elections.”
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon expressed regret over MQMP’s decision and said that his party MQMP wants to contest elections.
He called on the party to reconsider its decision, saying that the PPP tried its best to address the concerns of the MQMP.
