Opposition could not hold planned protest

LAHORE: Combined opposition parties postponed their protest demonstration outside Punjab Election Commission office scheduled for Thursday afternoon for lack of preparations and announced holding a larger and more organised protest at the same venue after a few days.

Opposition Alliance for Free and Fair Elections will stage a protest outside Punjab Election Commission office whose date would be announced within a couple of days after evolving a comprehensive strategy for agitation movement, said MMA secretary-general Liaquat Baloch while addressing a press conference at JI Lahore office on Thursday. He said now the opposition parties are planning to invite general public in the proposed demonstration outside Punjab Election Commission along with the members of Parliament, ticket-holders and leaders of opposition parties.

Flanked by leaders of MMA, PML-N and PPP, Liaquat Baloch said not only the opposition parties but the entire nation had rejected the ‘rigged’ and ‘controversial’ elections. He said the Action Committee of the Opposition parties APC has demanded immediate resignation of the top officials of Election Commission and constituting a parliamentary commission and a senate committee to probe the rigging. The leaders of opposition present on the occasion included PPP’s Azizur Rehman Chann, JUI-F’s Maulana Amjad Khan and Riaz Durani, and JI’s Bilal Qudrat Butt and Amirul Azeem, Sarfraz Ahmed Khan and Maulana Javed Kasuri.

Liaquat Baloch said strong reservations against election results were pouring in from everywhere in the country and all the parties contesting the election were of the view that the results of the July 25 elections could not be accepted. He said the Election Commission failed to function independently.

Replying to a question that EC was posting Form 45 at its website, Baloch said the position of the elections had already become controversial after those forms were not displayed at their proper time and the delayed explanation from the Election Commission was of no significance. He said if the incoming government and its spokesmen ignored the opposition protest or adopted anon serious attitude, the government itself would be the loser.

Siraj: A delegation representing Overseas Pakistanis expressed concern over alleged rigging in the recent elections and said it caused deep embarrassment for the overseas Pakistanis. The delegation expressed these views while talking to Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer, Senator Sirajul Haq at Mansoora on Thursday. The delegation also apprised the JI ameer of the problems being faced by the Pakistanis in different countries. Sirajul Haq appreciated the services of the overseas Pakistanis for the country and the nation. He said the overseas Pakistanis were the country’s unofficial ambassadors in foreign countries and they could play an important role in improving the country’s image in the world. He assured the delegation that JI would raise its voice at every forum for the solution of their problems, especially their right to vote. He said the overseas Pakistanis had great role in development of the country as they were remitting over $20 billion dollars to the country annually.

JI naib ameer Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, JI foreign affairs director Abdul Ghaffar Aziz, and Ayub Munir were also present on the occasion. Meanwhile, Sirajul Haq has called the meeting of JI central Shoora (central decision-making body) at Mansoora on Saturday (tomorrow). Senator Sirajul Haq will preside over the meeting which will deliberate over the results of recent elections and the party performance, besides taking decisions for evolving its future line of action.