JI sees itself fetching the slot of next Karachi mayor

Karachi
The Jamaat-e-Islami, speeding up its election campaign for the upcoming local government polls in Karachi scheduled to be held on December 3, is optimistic that the next mayor of Karachi will belong to the party.
It is also sure of its victory in landing the slot of chairperson in the six district municipals corporations of the city and the District Council Karachi.
It has been busy in organising conventions as well as meeting leaders of other political parties.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the residents of the city had voted for the JI in the general elections and also twice elected Abdul Sattar Afghani as the mayor of the city.
But after the emergence of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the JI has been on a downward journey in the metropolis.
The MQM’s boycott of the local bodies polls in 2001 and the electoral alliance of religious parties called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in 2002 the general polls had allowed the JI to grab the post of the Karachi mayor and five National Assembly seats of the total of 20 in the city respectively.
Now a section of analysts believe the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, being an emerging force in the city, has also created problems for the JI.
The News talked to Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, the JI Karachi chief, at his office at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the party’s Karachi secretariat, to discuss the local government polls and the city’s politics.
The News: How is the JI preparing for the local bodies polls in the city?
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman: We are confident that the next mayor of Karachi would belong to the JI because we have served the city and its resident in the past. Our preparations for the local government elections have completed. The party will participate in the polls with a reinvigorated spirit so that we can serve Karachi and field candidates across the city, including its rural and coastal areas. We regularly raise our voice on issues faced by the residents of Karachi and try to address them through our charity wing. During the tenure of the JI mayor, we played a key role in the city’s development and started mega uplift projects. During his tenure, our mayor equally divided development funds among nazims belonging to different political parties without any discrimination. Because of that, the JI has extended its political presence from its traditional vote banks to new constituencies including the rural areas. The residents of Karachi now understand that JI is necessary for peace and development in the city.

TN: Is the JI satisfied with the recent delimitation of constituencies in the city?
HNR: We had some reservations over the delimitation but our main concern is over the shrinking of the mayor’s powers. After 18th Constitutional Amendment, the provincial governments acquired more powers, but ironically, are unwilling to pass them on to the local governments, which are powerless. It is part of our election manifesto that we will work for granting due powers to the local governments so that development can take place.

TN: But how can the JI reclaim its lost turf in the city from the MQM?
HNR: There is a wrong perception that the MQM has encroached upon the JI’s support base. Our support base is still intact and our candidates are still getting votes. But after its emergence, the MQM has created a new support base and given new slogans to the voters. That is why other political parties have vanished from these constituencies but the JI is still present there with its proper organisational set-up and will always compete with the MQM alone – whether it is in the general polls or the local government ones.

TN: But the recent NA-246 by-polls show that the MQM is still stronger in its Mohajir-dominated constituencies – the support base they had grabbed from the JI since 1988.
HNR: As far as NA-246 by-polls are concerned, we have always demanded that a ‘targeted operation’ that reaches its logical end is conducted to restore peace in Karachi. We had also opposed the 1992 military operation in the city because army-led crackdowns in the city always provide an opportunity to the MQM to strengthen the myth that they represent the Mohajir community and use the ‘Mohajir card’ to regain the community’s support. In a targeted operation, the law enforcement agencies should arrest criminals involved in targeted killings and other crimes, stop them from contesting elections and ensure that the operation reaches its logical end in a given timeframe. The recent operation has been unable to remove the sense of fear among the residents of Karachi and that is why more steps are needed.

TN: Did the PTI’s emergence in Karachi also create problems for the JI? The NA-246 by-poll is a recent example.
HNR: That is also a false notion The JI is an ideological political party which is supported by the residents of Karachi since the creation of Pakistan. In the NA-246 by-poll, both parties tried to persuade each other to withdraw its candidate in favour of the other. But engaging a political party for one seat was very difficult. Overall, it was a healthy competition.

TN: But will it be possible to forge an alliance or reach a seat-to-seat adjustment with the PTI after the NA-246 episode?
HNR: The NA-246 was a single seat and letting the other party contest the poll was an all-out favor to it. In such scenarios, negotiations often do not yield results. In local bodies, we have much to give or take in lieu of gaining or giving a favour to another party. So there are always chances of alliances and seat-to-seat adjustments in local government elections which can be done with any party including the PTI.

TN: It is learnt the there is opposition in the JI’s inner-circles over forming electoral alliances with other parties, especially the PTI. Will the JI go for a solo flight?
HNR: Every party wants to contest the polls alone. It is a good practice to gauge one’s popularity. But the political situation on the ground compels them to forge alliances or opt for seat-to-seat adjustments with other parties. Since the 1970 elections, the JI has been contesting polls in form of alliances or boycotting them. But in the 2013 general election, the JI contested the polls on its own electoral symbol after a gap of 42 years.
The JI wants to contest the local bodies polls in the city alone too. But its dynamics are different than that of the general elections. Our doors are open for an electoral alliance or a seat-to-seat adjustment with all political parties except the MQM. It’s unlikely that a greater electoral alliance will be formed but there will probably be seat-to-seat adjustments. We have recently met with the leaderships of the Pakistan People’s Party and other parties. The JI is the only party in the city with which other political parties feel comfortable to sit with and form an alliance.