MQM-P to move court against ECP decision on LG elections

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) spokesperson claimed in a statement issued on Monday that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision on the local government elections was against justice.

He said the ECP had not fulfilled the requirements of justice, even though conducting fair and impartial polls was the only responsibility of the commission. The provincial election commission not only failed to fulfil its responsibility but also neglected all the legal requirements, he added.

He claimed that due to fake constituencies, a quarter of the population of urban Sindh had been deprived of real representation. There is a conspiracy to snatch the representation of the Urdu-speaking people and the urban areas of the province in a fabricated way, he alleged.

“An election rigged through fake constituencies and fake voters list won’t be recognised under any circumstances,” reads the statement. “It has become clear that the ECP can’t stop pre-poll rigging, and this will continue to put a question mark on its transparency.”

The MQM-P announced that they would approach every forum, including the court, against the “biased” decision of the ECP. “We want to see where the citizens of Sindh are deprived of justice. If the courts don’t provide justice, the public’s court will decide,” read the statement.

Reservations conveyed

Late in the evening, Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori met MQM-P Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, MQM Restoration Committee chief Dr Farooq Sattar and Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal at the Governor House.

A statement issued by the Governor House said the chiefs of the three political parties expressed their reservations to Tessori about the decision of the ECP to hold LG polls in Karachi.

The governor assured the leadership of the three political entities that he would talk to the federal government on the issue. The latest meeting took place against the backdrop of the hectic efforts of the Tessori to unite all the breakaway factions of the MQM.

Hearing adjourned

Earlier in the day, the Sindh High Court (SHC) adjourned the hearing of an application of an MQM-P lawmaker and others against the ECP’s notifications of holding LG elections in the province.

An SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro directed the office to fix the matter in accordance with the court roster on January 10.MQM-P MPA Kanwar Naveed Jamil and former district chairmen had said in their petition that the ECP notifications of holding LG polls in Sindh had been issued in violation of the LG and ECP laws.

Their counsel M Tariq Mansoor said that the full composition of the ECP — the chief election commissioner and four members from each province — was a mandatory constitutional requirement to be met under Article 218 of the constitution.

He said the ECP had issued the impugned notifications in violation of the law because the commission’s composition was incomplete, since two of its two seats were lying vacant.He added that the provincial government had still not complied with the Supreme Court’s direction to amend the LG law in conformity with Article 140-A of the constitution.

He requested the SHC to declare the ECP’s impugned notifications to hold LG polls in two phases as unlawful because they were issued without ensuring the mandatory constitutional commandment of the commission’s complete constitution.

Muhammad Saleh Zaafir adds:

The MQM-Pakistan and its new allies are hopeful about winning their judicial battle for fresh delimitations in Sindh before the second phase of the local government polls.

In a fresh bid, they have approached the apex court for suo moto action for ensuring the elections after new delimitations. They would go for a boycott of the polls with an appeal to the electorates to stay away from the polling process if their demand wasn’t met and they failed in their efforts.

They said it would be pre-poll rigging if the elections were held in accordance to the present delimitations. The MQM-London is already following the same path. Highly-placed political sources told The News here on Monday that the MQM-P had put their heads together to evolve a new strategy without wasting time any further to deal with the upcoming situation since they had limited time to take decisions.

MQM-P stalwart and federal minister Syed Amin-Ul-Haq, who arrived here from Karachi on Monday morning, has been called by his party leadership on an emergency basis back to Karachi for consultations regarding the ultimate course of action. He left for Karachi in the evening the same day by skipping his engagements in the federal capital.

The sources pointed out that the convergence of strategy of the MQM-L and the MQM-P towards the polls was interesting and intriguing. They said that PPP and MQM-P leaders would have another round of consultations today (Tuesday) to save the situation, and in case they couldn’t arrive at any understanding, it could harm their alliance in the province and in the federal government as well.

In the meantime, the ECP has fine-tuned its preparations for holding the LG elections on January 15 in Karachi and Hyderabad. The commission has decided to put in place strict security arrangements for the polls. The relevant material has been given to the returning officers. The commission is fully prepared for holding the polls on next Sunday, the sources said.