Congratulations pour in for elected candidates

Karachi

Congratulating the provincial local government leadership following mayoral polls, on Wednesday, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad said he hoped the elective members would serve their respective constituents in the best possible manner.

In a handout issued from the Governor House, Ebad was quoted to have said that after completion of local government polls’ process, problems could now easily be solved at the grassroots level.

“It would be easier to resolve people’s issues in time while their process of development would also accelerate,” he said.

He said the newly elected leadership should serve people regardless of their political affiliation or association, adding, that they were under crucial obligation to resolve problems with the best of their abilities.

Ebad expected that elected leaders would respect the aspirations of their respective constituents since it was their votes that got them the posts they now held.

Bilawal’s best wishes

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also relayed his best wishes to the party’s newly-elected mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and vice Chairmen.

He urged them to take on the herculean task of ensuring that residents of their respective union councils were provided will all basic civic amenities at their doorsteps.

The PPP chairman further said that the people of Sindh had entrusted them (local bodies’ representatives) and the party with a massive mandate of governance.

"Let the newly-elected heads give their best performance and prove that the PPP and the people were right in electing them," Bilawal observed.

The party chairman also expressed pride over the PPP’s adequate representation of minority communities as well as nominating a woman as chairman and also including women in the Sindh cabinet.

‘MQM rigged polls’ 

However, in a statement issued from the PPP’s provincial media cell, Senator Taj Haider blamed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of rigging the mayoral polls in ‘collusion with the establishment’.

Senator Haider claimed that the party has had a long standing working relationship with the establishment and were always supported by them in blocking the smooth course of democratic process. He further added that the party would continue to have support of such forces in Pakistan in future as well.

As per his statement, the senator seemed to have drawn the conclusion from the ‘absence’ of the paramilitary forces’ soldiers from polling stations on this crucial occasion in Karachi; the MQM was said to have had full control over the process of polling for which devoted city wardens were given the charge.

MQM’s leader opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khwaja Izharul Hasan, Dr Farooq Sattar, other members of the party and irrelevant people were present inside the polling stations in violation of the election’s code of conduct.

He further claimed that the polling process was under control of MQM workers and the returning officers were not inside the polling stations.

All of this, he observed, made it clear that MQM had the establishment’s support.

Senator Haider said the ballot papers in district West should have been revoked since they were ‘already specially marked and had codes’, but were counted anyway.

He demanded of the authorities to take notice of the rigging and conduct necessary investigations.