Sindh LG elections: JI says PPP likely to address its reservations

KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said on Thursday that he was hopeful the PPP would address the former’s reservations about the recently held local government elections.

He made the remarks after meeting with a PPP delegation led by Saeed Ghani at Idara-e-Noorul-Haq.

At the outset of press conference, Rehman said that recounting of votes was underway in some places, due to which problems were arising.

“We have forwarded our complaints regarding what happened on the day of the polls to the election commission. In some places, the presiding officer along with the ballot box were picked up.”

He said that the main issue the party had was with obtaining the Form 11 and 12 and the subsequent “changing of the results”.

“We contacted the election commission and also the PPP to resolve this matter.” He noted that the ECP would hear the party’s reservations regarding some UCs on January 23.

“But UCs which are facing recounting issues […] recounting is a legal process but if illegal moves are made during a legal process, then it makes the whole exercise fake [sic] which has happened in this case.”

He further said that the party had informed the Sindh government and the PPP of its reservations regarding the LG polls. “I hope that Saeed Ghani bhai and his whole team will look at the issue and things will be resolved. We will wait and if things improve then there will be more talks.”

For his part, Ghani congratulated the JI for securing a “good number” of seats during the LG polls. He said that the PPP had contacted the party in an effort to hear their reservations and complaints.

“We have been saying for the past few days, since the results started coming in, that we want PPP and JI to work together in the city’s local bodies.

“This is a good opportunity for this city, the people and the local bodies that two mature political parties work together to improve the situation.”

He accepted that the JI had “grievances and complaints” regarding the LG polls. “As you know, when elections take place, the entire exercise comes under the election commission and its laws.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023