JUI-F leader alleges rigging trend continued in by-polls

The powers that mocked the public mandate in the general elections also perpetuated the same trend in the by-elections, making it clear that the by-polls were a farce and a joke with the nation.

Sindh Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Secretary General Rashid Mahmood Soomro made this remark on Sunday as he addressed party meetings in Korangi and South districts of Karachi. “It has been proved that the JUI's decision to boycott this dramatic and fake by-elections was correct,” he said.

Soomro was accompanied by other JUI-F leaders, including Maulana Abdul Karim Abid, Maulana Muhammad Ghiyas, Maulana Samiul Haq Swati, Mufti Abdul Haq Usmani, Maulana Noorul Haq, Qari Faizur Rahman Abid, Qari Noor Amin, Maulana Abdullah Baloch, Maulana Sabir Ashrafi and Maulana Farooq Khalil.

He said Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should not be overly optimistic, because the government obtained through a fake mandate with the support of powerful forces would become a noose for his party.

He maintained that by holding a historic public gathering in Karachi on May 2, the JUI-F would unveil the facade of the fake mandate. The public meeting would serve as a public referendum for the rulers who had come into power in the province through a fake mandate, he said.

Soomro said that from Karachi to Kashmore, there was practically a reign of bandits in the entire province, with the ministers and advisers fostering the criminals rule. He added that no citizen's life or property was safe in Pakistan's economic hub Karachi where the public lived in fear and despair.

He said that those who had obtained seats through forgery and by spending huge sums of money did not have the right to govern Sindh. He added that while the rulers were busy filling their coffers, the public was at the mercy of bandits and robbers. According the JUI-F, its chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would address the party’s May 2 gathering in Karachi.