Amid uncertainty over the results of local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Amir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said on Saturday that a four-member committee has been formed to review what happened during the elections. Elections
JI had rejected the election results and claimed that it had won the majority of seats in the grassroots level elections in the port city. The party also filed complaints of rigging and miscounting of votes in the six union committees of Karachi and demanded action against the District Returning Officers (DRO) and Returning Officers (RO) involved.
Addressing a press conference along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Zaidi, Rehman said that the mandate of the winning party should be protected by other political parties.
“Everyone’s mandate should be respected but it should be legal,” the JI leader said, adding that his party wanted to achieve a consensus for the development of Karachi.
Rehman said the party already had reservations about constituencies, adding that many people voted for them.
He said that he had sent the details to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as the results were tampered with. “According to Form-11, the results were altered and the UCs were also reduced during the recounting of votes,” he alleged.
He added that the entire process of recounting was to benefit the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He further said that if the People’s Party had won the election legitimately, we would not have had any objection.
Rehman also said that his party was in a position to appoint its own mayor, hinting at an alliance with the PTI to appoint the mayor.
“All political parties are responsible for protecting the mandate of whoever wins,” he said, adding that his party wanted to achieve a consensus for the development of Karachi.
Talking about JI’s relationship with PTI, Rehman said: “There is a working relationship with PTI as well.” He made this comment regarding the 2015 local body elections in Sindh.
Rehman said that JI has unanimously proposed the appointment of Mayor Karachi to PTI.
He further said that he would have congratulated the JIPPP if the latter was in the position but the party cannot appoint the mayor alone.
“JI is in a position to appoint its own mayor,” Rehman said.
He said that if the mayor is appointed from JI, there will be both criticism and remedy.
Talking about Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P)’s stand on local body elections in Sindh, Rehman said he wanted the party to participate in the elections.
However, he said that it is MQMP’s own decision to boycott the second phase of local elections of Sindh.
Rehman concluded, “MQM-P made a last-ditch effort to stop the elections. They also demanded cancellation of terrorism cases filed against JI and PTI.”
Committee to review the status of elections
Meanwhile, Zaidi said PTI and JI were in touch with each other before and after the elections. He said that everyone saw the drama surrounding the municipal elections.
Zaidi said that Zardari mafia is running a destructive system in the city, he has not done anything for Karachi to make people vote for him.
The PTI leader said that both the parties agreed to form a committee to review what happened during the LG elections.
