- MQMP demands annulment of LG elections.
- Waseem Akhtar says elections should be announced again.
- Akhtar says everyone including Fafan said the elections were rigged.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) on Friday demanded the government to cancel the local elections scheduled for January 15 and hold new free, fair and transparent voting.
While holding a press conference in Karachi, Deputy Convenor of MQMP Waseem Akhtar while talking to the journalists said that it has been four days since the elections and the results have not been released yet.
“Why are the results delayed when there is no bad weather or high turnout?” Akhtar asked. He said that everyoneincluding the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), described the elections as rigged.
According to one The Faffen Report Controversies over the quality of the electoral process in Sindh’s local elections do not augur well for the country, especially at a time when political parties are gearing up for general elections that are constitutionally scheduled to be held on October 11, 2023.
The report added that these conflicts stem from weaknesses in the legislative framework that governs elections and need to be rectified through extensive negotiations.
The MQMP leader demanded that Karachi, “which supplies the country and is a major source of Sindh’s annual budget, should be taken care of”.
Criticizing the Sindh government for the loose conduct of the elections, he said that if the local body elections were rigged on such a large scale, what will happen in the general elections?
He also criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not heeding MQMP’s repeated appeals, saying “ECP has failed to deceive us this time.”
He added that elections in the two cities were postponed “thrice” and still “constituency delimitation was not done”.
Akhtar further claimed that “D There is also rigging. Make efforts to increase voter turnout and give space after the polls.”
The MQMP leader further highlighted that the turnout was low “only because the MQMP boycotted the elections.”
He said that the turnout this time was very less compared to the 2015 LG elections.
The MQMP leader said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) I was confused about what to do.
It should also be noted that the MQMP had boycotted the second phase of local body elections held in 16 districts of two divisions of Sindh, Karachi and Hyderabad, on Sunday.
In addition, the MQMP expressed happiness over the low turnout, saying “Karachi won and rigging lost.”
MQMP’s reservations on local body elections
MQMP Deputy Convenor Waseem Akhtar said his party would approach the court against the alleged pre-poll rigging in local government elections on Sunday.
“Give [ECP] They have completely failed to conduct transparent elections. Everyone has seen the biased attitude of the ECP, which rejected our legitimate requests,” he said on Tuesday.
Akhtar said that the whole world including Pakistan has seen the real face of People’s Party. He pointed out that PPP has also taken control of the meager budget of the local bodies.
He said that the MQMP has been voicing its concerns at various forums regarding errors in delimitation of constituencies for a long time – which affected the MQMP’s vote bank in both divisions.
However, he added, the ECP and the Sindh government have ignored justice and the law.
He questioned the transparency of the upcoming general elections, citing video clips aired on TV channels and circulated on social media, which showed ballot boxes and papers being misused in public. Is.
He also criticized the low voter turnout and accused the PPP of rigging the elections and creating 75 UCs with wrong population ratios.
He appealed to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take action against the violations of the country’s law and constitution.