ECP slammed for delaying local government elections again

The Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) have slammed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for delaying the local government elections in Karachi again.

JI Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday termed the ECP decision shameful, condemnable and unacceptable. He announced that the party will hold a protest against it. Rehman held a news conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq soon after the decision was made public on Wednesday. The news conference was followed by a protest sit-in at Shahrah-e-Quaideen by JI workers.

He said that apparently on the behest of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh government, the ECP has delayed the LG polls again on the pretext of rains despite the fact that the Met Office has forecast no rains in the city on August 27 and 28.

“The fascist decision is tantamount to violating the democratic and constitutional rights of more than 30 million Karachiites. The JI will call for a strong protest and resist the decision in exercise of its democratic and legal rights.”

He also announced approaching the judiciary against the decision and asked the ECP to explain if a single polling station in the city is practically unavailable. “The PPP and its coalition parties are taking a fascist route instead of a democratic one, and as a result they’re making all-out efforts to avoid the LG elections. The masses won’t let them do so and the corrupt ruling elite will be chased everywhere.”

Rehman said the PPP government has been delaying the LG poll for the past two and a half years. He said the PPP has imposed a political administrator on the city, while the residents want to get their problems resolved, and they believe that a JI-backed city mayor can bring a change.

The JI chief claimed that in this scenario, the PPP government is engaged in two-dimensional tactics: On the one hand the PPP and its allies, in collusion with the ECP, are delaying the LG elections, while on the other, the party is hatching conspiracies to influence the electoral process.

He also claimed that the PPP government is responsible for plundering billions of rupees allocated for cleanliness. “The PPP will have to tell the people what it has done for the flood-affected people. It’s shameful of the PPP government to ask the people for funds instead of taking measures at governmental level.”

Rehman said the provincial government has ruined Karachi despite the fact that the city has been providing 95 per cent of the revenue for the province.

Later in the day, the JI leader announced holding a sit-in outside the Sindh Election Commission on Friday (tomorrow). He said the delay is also a violation of the Supreme Court’s decision.

He also said that after consultation with their legal team, the JI will file a contempt-of-court case against the ECP and the PPP’s provincial government. He added that all the anti-Karachi forces need to know that the Karachi Rights Movement will gain more popularity with the ECP’s decision and with the passage of time. “The popularity of the JI among the masses has increased a lot compared to a month ago.”

PTI’s warning

Khurrum Sher Zaman, the PTI’s parliamentary party leader in the provincial assembly, condemned the ECP decision while addressing a news conference. He claimed that the decision clearly favours the PPP and the MQM-P, so the PTI will go to court against it.

He said that it is baffling that the ECP had announced postponing the polls only in Hyderabad a day earlier, but now they it has made the same decision for Karachi without giving any future date, which is very disturbing.

He said that both the MQM-P and the PPP are still licking their wounds from the massive defeat at the hands of the PTI in Sunday’s NA-245 by-election, adding that since then, they have been trying to get the ECP to postpone the LG polls in Karachi.

Zaman pointed out that Karachiites are looking forward to voting for the PTI in the LG elections with the hope that the PTI will address their issues such as dilapidated infrastructures, transport, traffic, street crime, water supply, overflowing sewage, encroachments and environment. Unfortunately, he lamented, this hope of the people has been crushed thanks to the ECP and its “rash” decision to postpone the elections without giving another date.

Delimitations

Addressing a news conference at MQM-P headquarters in Bahadurabad, MPA Khawaja Izharul Hassan said the ECP should correct the “unfair” delimitations of union committees (UCs) before the LG polls.

“If the ECP has made some mistakes in carrying out delimitations of UCs, those errors should be corrected. The constitution also allows such amendments. If it’s not done, it would be considered forgery and poll rigging,” he said, adding that no other party except the MQM-P has fought for a transparent LG system.

“A UC chairman candidate from North Nazimabad has been spending billions of rupees for his election campaign using social media and other platforms. The ECP should take notice of his huge expenses.”

Hassan said that if the LGs had been empowered in the country, there would not have been so many disasters and every possible effort would have been made to control them. He said the people should understand the MQM-P is not asking for power for itself but for them.

He added that the party’s Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation has actively participated in relief activities in the past, and this time the foundation, along with MQM-P volunteers, will take part in providing assistance to the rain victims. He also said the Sindh government should implement the agreement reached between the MQM-P and the PPP as soon as possible. The provincial government should also deploy people to focus on providing relief to the rain-affected people, he added.

Fear of defeat

PSP Chairman Mustafa Kamal also opposed the postponement of the elections in Karachi and Hyderabad. He said in a statement that the PPP and the MQM-P want to postpone the polls because they clearly see their defeat.

“The PPP has been ruling Sindh for the past 14 years, but the party can’t manage to provide relief to the people of the province.” He said the Met Office had issued warnings of heavy rainfall in Sindh, but the government ignored all those alerts and, resultantly, people lost their lives, houses and crops. “From Karachi to Kashmore, people have been suffering from difficulties due to rainfall, but PPP leaders are busy convening meetings in their air-conditioned rooms.” He demanded that the Sindh government provide immediate relief to the rain victims. He also demanded that the government waive off electricity bills in the rain-affected areas.