Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President and former Federal Minister Syed Ali HaiderZaidihas said that MQM is running away from Sunday’s elections as they do not have a full slate of candidates. Also, there is speculation that a boycott might be announced by them.PTI will win the local elections on Sunday, as the recent membership over the past weekend indicated the level of public support and passion for PTI in Karachi.
Addressing to press conference, on Wednesday at the PTI Sindh Secretariat on upcoming local body elections, Ali Zaidi began with a question for Foreign Minister BilawalZardari to ponder when he spoke about the floods in Sindh and related it to the floods during HazratNuh (AS). “I ask Foreign Minister Bilawal, why did the flood occur during the time of HazratNuh (AS)?”
PTI Sindh President criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for creating confusion at the last minute. The ECP will decide tomorrow if polling agents must reside within the same constituencies, where they are doing polling duty. If the ECP rules that polling agents can’t be outsiders to that constituency, this will create a huge problem for all political parties, especially with only four days left until Election Day.
Zaidi credited the JamaatIslami for running a proficient campaign on social media spending lacs of rupees, but sadly, they have little public support. On PPP’s prospects, the PTI Sindh President stated that there are pockets in Karachi like Malir where they have a chance to show good results through rigging and using government machinery, as they did in the NA-237 by-poll. Even in Lyari, PPP will face difficulties in winning there.Regarding the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad on January 15th, PTI Sindh President appealed to the ECP, DG Sindh Rangers, Police and local administrations to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election.
Based on reliable sources, Zaidi expressed concerns that other political parties might resort to creating a bloodbath through violence and chaos to scare voters away so that they can rig the results, as they cannot defeat PTI in a free and fair election.
Zaidi mentioned that there’s a lot of pent-up frustration among the people of Sindh due to various issues like expensive flour, the law-and-order situation, and the shortage of water, gas and electricity. But there is a hope that, through local government elections, work can finally begin to rebuild all the areas of Sindh through elected representatives.
PTI Sindh President expressed disappointment with the federal Interior Ministry’s rejection of the ECP’s request to have Army and Pakistan Rangers on duty inside and outside of every polling station. Mr. Zaidi fears that this will give the Sindh Government a free hand to cause chaos and use the Sindh Police to bully political opposition and voters.
Zaidi rebuked Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for blaming the current wheat crisis on former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PTI Sindh President quoted figures from the US Department of Agriculture showing Pakistan’s wheat production reached a historic level in 2021 under the PTI government. Plus, he mentioned that the wheat crisis in Sindh is due to hoarding and theft by the favourites of the Sindh Government.
The PTI Sindh President concluded the press conference with an announcement of a pre-election victory rally scheduled for Friday night with a televised address by Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
