KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has said the JI will use all available legal, constitutional and democratic options to safeguard its mandate in Karachi.
Addressing a press conference, Naeem announced that he will appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan in person on Wednesday in order to argue for the rights of Karachi and Karachiites.
He made it clear that any mischievous attempt if made by any quarter, including within the ECP to join hands with the Pakistan People Party, will also be exposed.
He said he will ask the ECP to unveil those compelled the ECP for not announcing the schedule for local government elections in the remaining 11 union councils in Karachi, whereas the ECP itself had already declared that announcement of the schedule for by-elections was an obligation for the commission.
The JI leader said it was a matter of shame that the PPP through one of its senior politicians, Taj Haider, wrote a letter to the ECP for announcement of results of the local government polls in Karachi. On the other hand, he maintained, it is demanded not to announce the schedule for the remaining 11 UCs.
He further said the PPP government in Sindh doesn’t want local government elections in the remaining 11 UCs because it is afraid of the JI’s popularity and imminent victory in these union councils.
Talking about the digital census, he dubbed the exercise a fraud while highlighting multiple loopholes in the procedure and expressed his concerns over the available information in this regard.
He said that the digital census was commenced yesterday and it’s website went down within hours. At one hand, the digital census provides opportunity for everyone to get registered, while on the other, it discloses nothing about confirmation.
The JI leader further said according to news pouring in, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the government of Pakistan both were not bound to share the results on the level of block code, translating into an impact that despite registration, Karachiites would not be counted in full and their complete numbers will not be shown.
Engr Naeemur Rehman said that the elected representatives, belonging to the JI, will be overseeing the process of the census.
He reiterated his demand to count everyone in the census where he or she is on the basis of de facto formula.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023