Polls on old census unacceptable: MQM-P

Party’s convener alleges some officials of ECP tampered with voters’ lists

KARACHI:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) – an ally of the incumbent government – on Monday refused to accept the latter’s decision of holding general elections on the basis of old census and delimitations.

Addressing a news conference in Karachi, party Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had tampered with the voters’ lists, calling for removing errors in them.

“Conspiracies are being constantly hatched against this city (Karachi) for which we have given proofs to the federation. According to a ‘big plan’, a few officials of the ECP have prepared the voters’ lists in such a manner that people will be looking out for the polling stations the entire day,” Siddiqui said.

He was flanked by other party leaders, including Senior Deputy Convenor Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar, Deputy Convener Anis Qaimkhani and members of Rabita Committee.

Last week, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced that the government would not notify the recently concluded census as the results were not authentic and that the election supervisor needed at least four months to complete the delimitation process.

Siddiqui said after 2018 elections, their demands were not fulfilled by both the parties – former ruling PTI and the incumbent PML-N. He reminded that they wanted census and “proper delimitations” and recovery of missing persons of their party.

He said delimitation of constituencies in Karachi was done on a sectarian basis, urging the government to take “corrective measures” before the polls.

To a question, Siddiqui stressed that elections should be held on time. “But transparent elections should be held on the basis of new census, new delimitation [of constituencies] and new voter lists.”

He urged the PML-N government to take his party into confidence in all matters, including the upcoming polls, saying: “They helped them (PML-N) in difficult times and were their ‘direct allies’.”

On the occasion, Kamal maintained that 5.6 million people in Karachi were not counted in the new census.

In Pakistan, a census is supposed to be carried out every 10 years so that elections and government policies and planning “can better reflect the demographical changes our ever-growing populous nation has gone through”.

For one reason or another, the exercise had been subjected to fits and starts. The last census was conducted six years ago in 2017, although the results were challenged and made controversial by various political quarters.

The 2017 exercise was carried out 19 years after the last one in 1998, which too took place after 18 years.