Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Sunday that the low turnout proved that the people of Karachi and Hyderabad rejected local government (LG) elections, Aaj News reported.
“Several parties believed that there will be a very high turnout of voters in the urban areas of Sindh despite MQM-P's boycott, however, our people proved that they still stand beside our narrative,” Siddiqui said while addressing a press conference in Karachi alongside Rabita Committee members.
The presser comes as the vote count for the second phase of LG polls in Sindh is underway. As per reports, the voting turnout remained between 20 to 25 percent.
During the presser today, Siddiqui said MQM-P’s call for a boycott of the LG polls is a clear sign that we don’t run after power.
“Our stance is on principle, which is why the people of Karachi and Hyderabad understand it. This is why they did not come out to vote for any other party,” he said.
He said MQM-P will organise a “Clean Karachi Week” and make the country clean again without being in the power corridors.
Speaking at the occasion, senior MQM-P leader, Farooq Sattar, who recently returned to the party fold, said wherever the voters’ turnout is high, it was because of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) rigging.
“Several videos floating on social media showed how PPP Jiyala’s stamped ballot papers in the polling stations in the presence of police officials.”
Meanwhile, Mustafa Kamal, who also merged his Pakistan Sarzameen Party (PSP) into MQM-P, said PPP had already rigged the entire process with controversial delimitations.
“Firstly, they undercounted the population of Karachi, especially the urban population, and then they made a dent in our mandate with unjust delimitations.”
Kamal said the PPP reduced 73 union councils in urban areas under new delimitations, which could constitute a small city.
He insisted that whoever becomes Karachi’s mayor after winning under the current system, will do no good to the city.
To a question, Kamal said the MQM-P will begin “the real struggle” for the rights of people right after local government polls, and promised to serve the masses in any way possible.
Earlier on Saturday, MQM-P, after a day-long consultation, announced that it would boycott local government elections scheduled for January 15 in three divisions of Sindh, including Karachi and Hyderabad, according to private TV channels.
The Sindh government had postponed the Karachi and Hyderabad LG polls in response to an MQM-P demand.
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected the provincial government’s notification on the postponement of LG polls and ruled that the local bodies' elections would be held as per schedule on January 15. Earlier, amid speculation that the MQM-P could part ways with the coalition government or even boycott the elections, Bilawal offered the party some last-minute advice.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.