Give our full mandate back, don’t try to test our patience: Sirajul Haq on Karachi polls

ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has said the ROs (returning officers) were forced to change the results by the Sindh government in Karachi local bodies polls.

The rigging in Sunday’s election was conducted by the PPP’s government to prove the provincial ruling party as the leading party in the port city, he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Quoting results from Farm 11, Sirajul Haq said, the JI had been declared winner in 94 union councils. But, he added, the election results were delayed and then changed at the offices of the ROs.

“We want our mandate back,” he demanded, asserting the JI was ready to serve the people of Karachi. He said the JI was a peaceful party but it had many options to take back its mandate. “Don’t try to test our patience,” he said.

Sirajul Haq hoped the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will play the role to bring Karachi out of confusion. “I expect Asif Zardari will issue directions to the PPP Sindh chapter to accept the JI mandate.”

The JI chief said the victory of his party in Karachi was not unexpected. Whenever transparent elections were held in the port city, the people put confidence on the JI, he added, mentioning late Abdul Sattar Afghani and late Naimtullah Khan who had served as Mayor Karachi and proved their brilliance.

Karachi, said Sirajul Haq, was financial jugular vein of the country and it had long been experiencing instability. He said the JI would return peace and prosperity in the biggest city and fulfill the expectations of the Karachities.

Sirajul Haq said the PDM, the PPP and the PTI added to the miseries of the masses, bringing political and economic crises. He said the PTI first announced that it would never return to assemblies, creating confusion and now when it decided to go back to the parliament, the speaker of the national assembly accepted resignations of the PTI members. Both sides, he said, were posing non-seriousness, unconcerned about the problems of the people. The JI, he said, condemned the attitude of the ruling parties.

He said the elections were the only way to bring the country out of prevailing crises. But, he added, the electoral reforms should be made before the polls as nobody will accept the results without reforms, creating further uncertainty and chaos.