GDA wants elections to be held on time

Palijo asks ECP to comply with Lahore High Court's order regarding nomination forms


Our Correspondent June 03, 2018
Ayaz Latif Palijo. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE

HYDERABAD: In sync with Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pir Pagara Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi-led Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has also demanded holding the general elections as per schedule.

"The GDA wants elections to be held on time," said GDA General Secretary Ayaz Latif Palijo at a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Saturday.

"The people should get their right to vote." He asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to comply with the Lahore High Court's order regarding the nomination forms.

He suggested the ECP to review once again its returning officers (RO) and presiding officers in Sindh to ensure that all the election staff worked independently. Palijo pointed out that the names of many officials, who were assigned responsibility of ROs and presiding officers in the previous elections but failed to ensure transparency, have surfaced again for the 2018 elections.

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"Many ROs and presiding officers may not play an impartial part in the elections," Palijo suspected. The GDA leader demanded removal of all the officers of the district administration and the police who are known to be blue-eyed officials of the PPP.

"IG Allah Dino Khowaja should prove in the elections that he is an impartial police officer," Palijo said, reminding Khowaja that the people of Sindh supported him when the PPP government wanted to remove him from the post.

Although, he let known his apprehensions about the caretaker chief minister, Fazlur Rehman, he expressed hope that the interim government will not repeat the rigging of its predecessors.

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He said Rehman either headed or remained involved in various corruption-tainted projects like Rs17 billion scheme for installation of reverse osmosis plants through the special initiatives department.

Palijo said that the alliance has so far received 45 applications for the National Assembly seats in Sindh and 80 for the provincial assembly. He said the GDA wanted to contest on all 130 seats of the Sindh Assembly.

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