KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief, Monem Zafar said on Thursday that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had once again “failed to hold fair and transparent by-elections” in Karachi and other districts of Sindh.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters Idara Noor-e-Haq, he said the process was marred by irregularities, which had raised serious questions about the ECP’s performance. He added that public trust in the commission had been badly affected.
Monem Zafar said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had turned electoral rigging into its identity and claimed that the ECP and the establishment had supported it.
He was accompanied by senior JI leaders including Saifuddin Advocate, Raja Arif Sultan, Zahid Askari, Najeeb Ayoobi, Maulana Fazal Ahad Hanif and Imran Shahid.
Referring to the local government by-elections held in 14 districts of Sindh and 3 districts of Karachi, he said the ECP had failed to conduct fair elections for one chairman, three vice-chairmen and one ward seat in Karachi. However, he thanked the people of Orangi for supporting JI in UC-7, Ward-4.
He also criticized Karachi’s mayor, saying that despite increasing municipal utility charges, the city had only seen patchwork repair of 106 roads, which could not withstand seasonal rains. He said the Municipal Utility Charges Tax (MUCT) had been raised in the budget to Rs700 for commercial consumers, but the mayor had not pressed for Karachi’s outstanding share of Rs880 billion from development funds, taxes and other receivables.
The JI leader said Karachi’s share after the 18th Amendment had dropped from 49 percent to 5.8 percent, which had deprived the city of rightful funds.
Turning to international issues, Monem Zafar announced that from October 1 to 7, JI will observe Gaza Solidarity Week across Pakistan. A large march will be held on October 5 at Nursery on Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi. He said people from all walks of life including women, children and workers would join the march.
He called for protection of the Freedom Flotilla, a ship carrying activists from more than 40 countries towards Gaza, and said that the United Nations, OIC and other global institutions had failed to stop Israeli aggression.
Monem Zafar also condemned the recent attack on journalist Imtiaz Mir and demanded strict action against those responsible.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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