Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir, has demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issue a policy statement to clear the confusion created by the Sindh government, which proposed that the local government elections in Karachi be held in two phases.
In a statement, he remarked that following the failure to postpone the local bodies polls, the Pakistan People’s Party governments in Sindh wanted hold the elections in two phases in an attempt to rig the polls and create a divide within Karachi.
Rehman said the JI would not accept any such move. He alleged that the PPP government in Sindh was employing nefarious tactics to rig the local bodies polls by illegally exercising its administrative powers.
He explained that the JI’s election cell head, Raja Arif Sultan, had already written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan to take notice of the PPP government’s conduct.
The JI leader said some of the PPP leaders had launched a campaign against the JI because it had been highlighting the PPP government’s corruption.
He added that Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had claimed that JI workers were responsible for the blockage of drains.Rehman asked Ghani if the JI was also responsible for broken roads, shortage of water, crimes and prevailing mafias in the city. He also asked the party workers to gear up for the October 23 local government elections.
