PHOTO: AFP
In a desperate bid to pre-empt a tripartite alliance’s June 10 strike call in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government decided to convene an all parties conference (APC) on June 9 (tomorrow) and soothe widespread fears over rigging in the local government elections.
The decision was taken in the wake of mounting criticism against rigging allegations, by foes and friends alike, in the May 30 polls.
Just a day earlier a three-party alliance comprising Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) had called for a provincewide strike on June 10.
A communiqué cited K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak as saying that the government was inviting political parties to an APC to deal with the issue of maladministration and charges of rigging in the LG polls held under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Khattak said the PTI itself was a victim of the ECP’s failure during the 2013 parliamentary vote and had major grievances like other political parties, insisting that it has to be recognised that the K-P LG polls were unprecedented in scale and that is why neither the ECP nor the local administration was fully prepared.
The chief minister said the PTI was committed to fair and free elections and that was the reason it was calling an APC to take all political parties on board and find a way out of the current impasse.
The PTI government said it was ready to abide any outcome of the APC, including re-election and would move to the ECP to act on this consent of the political parties, he added.
ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak, however, said the government decision to call the APC was not clear. But the opposition’s stance, in contrast, was very clear.
JI calls for re-elections
Earlier, JI chief Senator Sirajul Haq asked the K-P government to conduct re-polls in those union councils where political parties, media and independent observers had questioned the conduct of the exercise.
A party statement issued following a high-level huddle attended by lawmakers and provincial leadership cited him as saying that those government officials who were involved in the rigging should also be brought to book.
The supervisory body failed to hold fair and free LG polls in K-P, he added.
However, the JI chief opposed the strike call of the tripartite alliance, saying that the war-strife province could not bear protest and agitation.
Quit K-P govt: PPP
While unveiling its plan to kick off protest rallies in K-P from June 10, the PPP provincial chapter demanded that the K-P government quit for what it called its “direct involvement in rigging”.
PPP K-P president Senator Khanzada Khan said his party expected the ECP to take notice of the irregularities, improper arrangements and rigging in the election, a party statement said.
The meeting decided to conduct joint protests against the provincial government in collaboration with the tripartite alliance to show their street power.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2015.
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