JI launches blistering tirade against PPP

Accuses party of making ‘naked attempts to snatch’ Karachiites’ mandate

KARACHI:

As the city’s mayor elections draw nearer, the Jamaat-e-Islami launched a blistering tirade against the Pakistan Peoples Party, accusing it of making “naked attempts to snatch” the mandate of Karachiites.

The mayoral elections scheduled for June 15 (Thursday) will see JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and PPP’s Murtaza Wahab square off against each other.

In this connection, the JI on Sunday took out the ‘Save Karachi March’ as part of a countrywide protest against attempts to manipulate mayoral election in Karachi by the PPP.

The JI warned the Sindh government that Karachiites would not compromise on their mandate so the regime needed to mend its ways.

Tens of thousands of Karachiites took to Sharah-e-Quaideen in protest against the “fascist tactics by the PPP to bulldoze the mandate of the citizens” as the ruling regime in Sindh resorted to arrest elected chairmen of union councils, belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

“The crackdown in Karachi was moved from May 9 mayhem to the elected chairmen under political motives after the party (PTI) announced unconditional support for Rehman in the mayoral elections,” a statement issued by the JI said.

A large number of political and social activists, social media influencers, JI workers and people belonging to all walks of life joined the march.

Participants, carrying placards and banners, chanted slogans against the PPP’s “fascist design” to capture the mega city.

Rehman in his address said that after the PPP realised its imminent humiliation in the local government elections in the mega city, it was trying its level best to avoid holding the polls.

He said, “It is [due to] the continuous pursuit by the JI that the PPP government in Sindh has been compelled to hold the elections.”

From that point, he maintained, the PPP opened another “chapter of fascism, undemocratic and anti-people tactics” to please its “feudal mindset by naked attempts to snatch the mandate of Karachiites”.

Unfortunately, “the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) played the role of A team for the PPP when it comes to post-poll rigging”, he said.

The JI stalwart made it clear that the Karachiites would not let the PPP snatch their mandate and the JI will use all constitutional and democratic options against the ruling party.w

Rehman said, “The PPP is hated in Karachi because of the feudal and fascist designs the PPP used to usurp the rights of Karachiites.”

The PPP has become the single largest party with 155 members, including the reserved seats, in the 367-strong house after the local government polls.

Also read: PPP, JI candidates file nominations for mayoral election

Currently, no single party has a simple majority of 179 votes in the house, the count that is needed to ascertain who wins the coveted seat of the port city's mayor. As per the latest statistics, the total number of the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) is 175.

On the other hand, the JI has emerged as the second largest party with a total of 130 seats, including reserved seats, while the PTI bagged a total of 63 seats. The alliance between the two parties stands at 193.

In his address, JI chief Sirajul Haq said, “The ruling elite in the country did only disservice to the country. The said class looted each and every institution and sector of the country and now they are aiming at ballot box.”

He said, “The elite ruling class needs to know that time has changed and they will have to face an unprecedented resistance.”

The JI supremo said that the upcoming mayor election in Karachi was not about a contest between the PPP and the JI — “it is contest between the PPP and Karachiites”.