“It seems the election commission is not paying any heed to our complaints." PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has threatened the election commission that if the army is not deployed inside polling stations, they would be forced to reconsider their decision to participate in the upcoming elections.
Speaking to the media after a meeting with Justice (retired) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti said that they have lodged several complaints with the chief election commissioner but to no avail.
“Today we presented a memorandum signed by 17 parties that asked for army deployment inside the polling stations and drew the election commissioner’s attention towards the polling scheme which has been prepared to favour a certain party in Karachi,” Mehanti said, adding that presiding officers and assistant presiding officers inducted in various areas of Karachi have political affiliations.
“It seems the election commission is not paying any heed to our complaints. This has sowed doubts whether elections in Karachi would be free and fair. If this continues, we will hold a meeting and decide our future course of action, which could include boycotting the elections.”
Deployment in Hyderabad
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) has called for army deployment in Hyderabad on May 11 to prevent the former coalition partners in the Sindh government from rigging the polls. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, JUP president Sahibzada Muhammad Zubair said that a soldier should be stationed at every polling station not just those declared very sensitive.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Ali Hasan: Thats why they say "worse of democracy is batter than the best of dictatorship". And praise be to God we are a democracy.