All options on cards to get rigging in LG polls undone, says Naeem

KARACHI: Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has vowed to continue struggle against what the party terms its city government mandate theft by the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh.

The JI leader expressed these views while addressing a press conference held at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the Karachi JI headquarters, on Wednesday.

He was flanked by party leaders Dr Usama Razi, Munim Zaffar Khan, Raja Arif Sultan, Saifuddin Advocate, Younous Barai, Qazi Saddarudin, Zahid Askari, Sohaib Ahmed and others.

He said that the all the options for the JI, including approaching the higher judicial forums and no confidence motion, were on the cards.

He added that the JI would continue its struggle against the mandate theft till justice was served. The entire country had expressed its support for Karachi and its residents and the PPP was being held responsible for snatching the mandate of the JI in Karachi through rigging the local government and mayoral elections, he maintained.

The JI was going to hold a massive demonstration on Friday outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad over its subordination role to the PPP government in Sindh against the interests of the people and justice, Rehman announced.

He said the Karachi JI was going to hold a welcome reception at the Idara Noor-e-Haq today (Thursday) for the elected chairmen belonging to the party in towns and union committees.

He vowed that the JI would play a strong role in progress and development of the city and strongly resist monetary corruption and other corrupt practices.

Commenting on PPP Chairman Bilwal Bhutto Zardari’s claim that the PPP would win the coming general elections across the country in the same fashion it had won the local government elections in Karachi, Rehman said the PPP had shown the worst kind of fascism and rigged the elections in Karachi with the help of the state machinery, returning officers and district returning officers as well as the ECP.

The JI leader remarked that the PPP had been ruling Sindh for the last one-and-a-half decade and the province was visibly lagging behind Punjab in all sectors.

Rehman added that there was corruption everywhere in Sindh, and all the development and progress were shown only on files.

He asked Bilawal to explain why the people of Karachi were understated in the census, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to explain why the PPP could not implement the K-IV water supply project during the past 15 years and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab to explain why the Rs14 billion road carpeting work carried out in Karachi could not sustain just a single spell of rain.

The JI leader went on to say that the people of Karachi had rejected the PPP in the polls because of the hatred against its corrupt practices.