MQM-P wants LG elections postponed

Says there is an atmosphere of fear in constituencies under which transparent elections cannot be held

KARACHI:

Incidents of violence and allegations of rigging prove that the demand of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) to postpone the local bodies’ elections was justified, MQM-P Deputy Convener and former Mayor of Karachi Wasim Akhtar said on Sunday.

MQM-P reiterates its demand to postpone local bodies, elections in Sindh, Akhtar said addressing a press conference at the party’s Bahadurabad office.

MQM-P Coordination Committee members Furqan Ateeb, Zahid Mansoori, Abdul Wasim and Muhammad Abu Bakar were present in the press conference.

The local government elections in Sindh seem to be less of an electoral process and more of a joke, Wasim Akhtar said adding that family names were missing from the voter lists. “Steps should be taken to hold transparent elections. A farce is being played in the name of elections in Sindh,” said Wasim Akhtar.

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“Elections should be stopped in Sukkur, Nawabshah and Mirpur Khas,” he demanded, adding that all the political parties were raising questions about the electoral process. “The way the elections are being held puts a big question mark on the performance of the Sindh government officials,” he said, adding: “There is an atmosphere of fear in constituencies under which transparent elections cannot be held.”

Akhtar continued that voters were coming to the polling stations in scorching heat but returning without casting their votes, which is a systematic act of government sponsored rigging. The PPP has assigned hooligans and dacoits in Sindh to harass staff of election commission.

He said in many constituencies armed men kidnapped election staff and hauled away ballot boxes, threw the stuffed ballot boxes in the river.

In some places, presiding officers were unaware of voters lists and lists were missing for hours under the pretext of copying, use of batons and making voting area of Muhajir voters miles away from home is not a transparent election, but pre-poll rigging.