JI to hold negotiations on mayorship once poll results are rectified, says Naeem

Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday visited the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sindh secretariat in a goodwill gesture and asked the PML-N to work with the JI for the development of Karachi.

The JI leader paid the visit to the PML-N leadership a day after the latter had announced its support for the Pakistan Peoples Party in the coming mayoral election.

The JI leader asked the PML-N’s city leadership to contact all political forces in the city in order to launch a joint initiative in order to mitigate the burning issues being faced by Karachi and its residents.

According to a spokesperson for the JI, PML-N Sindh President Shah Muhammad Shah responded positively to Rehman’s suggestion for initiating a joint struggle for the development of Karachi.

Following the meeting, Shah and Rehman held a joint press conference, in which the JI leader said the local government elections in Karachi had been held after a prolonged struggle and all political parties in the city had reservations and concerns over the manner in which the polls had been held.

He, however, added that the need of the hour was to work together for the progress and development of the city. He said that conflicts that had emerged in the wake of the elections would lead the city to nowhere and further create hindrances in the resolution of the problems of the people of Karachi.

Rehman said the JI and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had not held talks over the election of mayor in the City Council as this was not the right time for that.

The JI leader maintained that the party had already submitted an application before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold recounting in the presence of its own representatives as no one trusted biased returning officers, particularly after their controversial conduct.

He said that the JI would be open for talks for the mayoral election in the city after the ECP had decided the matter of six union councils. He expressed the hope that the JI would secure the mayor’s post and said that the mandate of each and every party, after rectification of the results, would be respected.

Shah congratulated the JI on its victory in the local government elections. He said the PML-N wanted to work together with the JI and others parties for the sake of Karachi. He said the PML-N respected the mandate of the JI in the city and wanted a close working relationship with the party.