JI will not let poll rigging succeed through recounting

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has accused the Pakistan People Party (PPP) of planning to abandon the local government setup once again.

He emphasised that the JI will not let such plans succeed and will safeguard every vote cast in its favour.

Speaking at a press conference held at the party’s Karachi headquarters, Rehman said that the JI would not tolerate rigging in the name of recounting. He accused the PPP and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of fraudulently taking over JI’s union councils as recounting was carried out despite broken seals and torn bags.

He welcomed the Islamabad High Court’s decision to issue a stay order against the recount in Karachi and announced that he would personally appear before the court in Wednesday’s hearing.

He said that JI had emerged as “the single largest party in Karachi in terms of popular votes, wards, and union councils”, and said that it showed the city had reposed its trust in the party.

He said that the PPP didn’t want election on the remaining 11 union councils as it didn’t want to be part of the LG process. He also demanded that the authorities hold the elections on the scheduled date of April 18.

Rehman also criticised the ECP, saying it was playing the role of PPP’s facilitator. He alleged that the ECP had taken up the cases of six union councils in Karachi and had ordered a recount of controversial ballot papers under the supervision of already biased returning officers and district returning officers.

He also demanded that the ECP take the ballot papers in its custody from the returning officers (ROs) and the district returning officers (DROs) to ensure transparency.

Rehman also demanded that the government and relevant authorities bring transparency to the process of census enumeration.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2023.