Voicing concerns: Opposition leaders protest outside ECP office

Submit complaints against rigging during the LG elections

KARACHI: Members of opposition in the Sindh Assembly gathered outside the provincial Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office on Wednesday afternoon to register their grievances on the allegedly rigged local government (LG) elections.

The leaders of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), including former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Shafqat Shah Sherazi, PML- Functional’s Jam Madad Ali, Masroor Jatoi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Nadir Akmal Leghari and others, submitted a complaint against rigging during the first two phases of the LG elections in Sindh. They also staged a sit-in, which lasted for half an hour and had around 150 participants shouting slogans against the ECP and the Sindh government.

Addressing the media, Dr Rahim said that opposition parties had already complained to the ECP about rigging and the role of district returning officers and returning officers but no one addressed their issues. He alleged that the Pakistan Peoples Party only raised their voice about rigging in those polling stations where other parties were in a better position to be elected.

He said that he, along with other party leaders, had already asked the government to deploy Rangers personnel at every polling station. “But our concerns were never addressed,” he lamented, adding that the law enforcement agencies were only deployed on the will of the provincial government.

The former Sindh CM demanded a reformation of the ECP. “The ECP is incapable of conducting fair and transparent elections,” he accused. “We reject these LG elections results.”

Ali alleged that the Sindh government deliberately postponed the LG polls in Sanghar district. He said that the provincial government plans to deploy police in this particular district to secure results in its favour.

The PML-F leader appealed to the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, to take notice of the situation and ensure proper security arrangements in this particular district.

PML-N leaders in Sindh are unhappy with their leadership and may part ways with the party soon, said Dr Rahim, adding that the PML-N leadership has never seriously resolved issues of its leaders in Sindh.

“I am leaving the party soon,” he disclosed. “Other leaders will follow me as well,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2015.