Saeed Ghani suggests PPP, JI work together for Karachi

It is not the PPP’s victory but the success of Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi’s polls, which is surprising,” Ghani says

KARACHI:

Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani has suggested that Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamaat-e-Islami should work together in the best interest of Karachi.

Saeed Ghani, who is also PPP Karachi president, gave the suggestion to this effect on Tuesday while speaking at a press conference here at the Sindh Assembly building a day after PPP emerged as the single largest party after the local government elections in the city with JI in the runner-up position.

Ghani said that those who had been expressing surprise at the victory of the PPP in the local government elections were most probably oblivious to the fact that five sitting MNAs and seven MPAs of the PPP are from Karachi.

He said that only one MPA in Karachi belonged to the JI, which was in fact the lawmaker of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. “It is not the PPP’s victory but the success of Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi’s polls, which is surprising,” he said.

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He said it was utterly wrong to assume that the PPP represented rural Sindh only as the Peoples Party was the representative of the federation of Pakistan.

He advised the JI to formally challenge the election results in whichever constituency it had reservations about the poll outcome as the PPP had also given numerous applications for recounting of the votes.

He recalled that PPP had secured electoral victories from Karachi in the 2018 general elections despite brazen rigging in the polls.

Ghani said that though the JI had resorted to protest outside the offices of election officials in District Central of Karachi it had secured 39 out of 42 seats in the same district. In District Korangi also, the PPP secured only four seats while JI bagged 19 seats.

Ghani told media persons that the maximum delay in the announcement of election results had occurred in the case of Landhi Town in Karachi as the JI had won all nine seats of the area.

He said the PPP had emerged victorious in the areas of Malir, District South, and Keamari, which were traditionally also the party’s strongholds.

“While people are amazed at the PPP’s victory in Lyari and District West while there is no surprise at the JI’s victories in the districts Central, East, and Korangi,” said Ghani.

He mentioned that JI in the latest polls had surprisingly bagged 79 seats from just three districts of the city while the PPP had secured 94 seats from the entire Karachi. He said the PPP had secured overwhelming victories from Karachi in the past elections since 1977.

He said that the people of Karachi had given the mandate both to the PPP and JI as both parties should honour each other’s mandate. “We are ready to hold talks and find a way out in this regard,” he said.

To a question, Ghani told media persons that the maximum number of seats PPP had won from any district in the latest polls was 25 as that was the case of Keamari district.

To another question, he said that any political party securing victories in the local government polls could make efforts to grab the post of Karachi’s mayor as the JI is one such successful party.