MQM chief likely to speak against delimitation of constituencies today
The party has been vocal against the apex court’s orders to redraw constituencies in the city.
KARACHI:
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain will address a public gathering today and is likely to express his views on the issue of delimitation of constituencies in the city.
The party also “appealed to students of law and the constitution to participate” in the event. MQM has been extremely critical of the Supreme Court’s order to redraw constituencies in the metropolis. Hussain and the coordination committee have called the move “unconstitutional” and “prejudiced” in nearly identical statements during the past two days.
Hussain told MQM leaders on Thursday that the apex court’s observation was a well-thought out plan to break his party’s majority mandate and speculated that this would spark ethnic discord. He also alleged that the remarks amounted to contempt for the mandate given by the people of Karachi, and presented an “open enmity” for the city. The party also questioned why the exercise was not being planned for other restive areas in the country.
The party had also conveyed its displeasure over the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) during a meeting on Friday. MQM representatives had asked it to produce the “exact order” of the apex court. After the commission failed to do so at the time, the MQM refused to discuss the matter any further during the meeting. Other parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and Jamaat-e-Islami asked the ECP to grant them one week so that they could submit their proposals for the delimitation.
MQM’s Raza Haroon told The Express Tribune that “the process for us stopped” when the election commission failed to produce the terms of reference for the delimitation.
In its October 2011 order in a suo motu case on the violence in Karachi, the Supreme Court observed that “boundaries of administrative units [including] police stations [and] revenue estates ought to be altered so that members of different communities may live together in peace and harmony, instead of allowing various groups to claim that particular areas belong to them and declaring certain areas as NO GO Areas”. The court order added that delimitation of various constituencies needed to be undertaken for the same purpose, and authorised the “Election Commission of Pakistan [to] initiate the process on its own in this behalf.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2012.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain will address a public gathering today and is likely to express his views on the issue of delimitation of constituencies in the city.
The party also “appealed to students of law and the constitution to participate” in the event. MQM has been extremely critical of the Supreme Court’s order to redraw constituencies in the metropolis. Hussain and the coordination committee have called the move “unconstitutional” and “prejudiced” in nearly identical statements during the past two days.
Hussain told MQM leaders on Thursday that the apex court’s observation was a well-thought out plan to break his party’s majority mandate and speculated that this would spark ethnic discord. He also alleged that the remarks amounted to contempt for the mandate given by the people of Karachi, and presented an “open enmity” for the city. The party also questioned why the exercise was not being planned for other restive areas in the country.
The party had also conveyed its displeasure over the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) during a meeting on Friday. MQM representatives had asked it to produce the “exact order” of the apex court. After the commission failed to do so at the time, the MQM refused to discuss the matter any further during the meeting. Other parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and Jamaat-e-Islami asked the ECP to grant them one week so that they could submit their proposals for the delimitation.
MQM’s Raza Haroon told The Express Tribune that “the process for us stopped” when the election commission failed to produce the terms of reference for the delimitation.
In its October 2011 order in a suo motu case on the violence in Karachi, the Supreme Court observed that “boundaries of administrative units [including] police stations [and] revenue estates ought to be altered so that members of different communities may live together in peace and harmony, instead of allowing various groups to claim that particular areas belong to them and declaring certain areas as NO GO Areas”. The court order added that delimitation of various constituencies needed to be undertaken for the same purpose, and authorised the “Election Commission of Pakistan [to] initiate the process on its own in this behalf.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2012.