‘Transparency in polls is possible only with updated census’

Syed Mustafa Kamal expressed serious concerns about the ongoing debate surrounding elections

KARACHI:

Senior Deputy Convener of MQM-Pakistan Syed Mustafa Kamal has expressed serious concerns about the ongoing debate surrounding elections in the country. He criticised the idea of holding immediate elections using outdated constituency boundaries that rely on old census data, accusing those in favour of this approach of lacking integrity.

Addressing the media at Pakistan House, which serves as MQM’s main election office, Kamal stressed the vital role of up-to-date census data in ensuring transparent elections. Deputy Convener Anees Qaim Khani and members of the coordination committee accompanied him.

Kamal underscored the issue by referring a previous incident where MQM persistently sought a recount after the announcement on April 7 showing Karachi’s population at 1.3 million only. Their concerns prompted then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to dispatch federal teams to investigate, which not only validated MQM’s worries but also revealed additional errors in the census data. Consequently, revisions were initiated, and the results were delayed due to the omission of a population of 7.3 million. After the modification, Karachi’s population significantly increased, necessitating the creation of new constituencies and parliamentary seats.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2023.