KARACHI: The opposition parties, mainly Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami, on Friday strongly reacted to the Sindh government’s decision of delaying the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad for the fourth time and described it as move to keep Karachiites deprived of their rights out of fear of ‘clear defeat’ in elections.

In early morning decisions, the PTI and JI announced protest sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly and regional offices of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

However, after the ECP rejected the Sindh government’s request to postpone the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions in the afternoon, the JI called off its sit-in and welcomed the decision.

However, the PTI, despite the ECP’s ruling, stuck to its plan of staging a sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly.

Accuse MQM and PPP of ‘conspiring’ to deprive Karachiites of their rights

Addressing a press conference before the protest, PTI leader Syed Ali Haider Zaidi had accused both the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Pakistan Peoples Party of “jointly hatching a conspiracy” as both the parties did not want local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad.

He also questioned the merger of MQM factions and reminded former Karachi mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal, who has merged his Pak Sarzamen Party with the MQM-P, of his allegations which he had levelled against his current political allies.

“I just want to ask Mustafa Kamal that why he’s back in the party which he had called an agent of RAW [an Indian spy agency] in the past,” he said.

“And let me also warn all those players who’re involved in this political engineering [merger of MQM factions] just to stop PTI from winning the elections; you will never achieve your target. You can defeat a party or individual but you cannot defeat a nation which is now united under the leadership of Imran Khan.”

A large number of party workers then converged outside the Sindh Assembly to protest against the “conspiracy hatched at CM House and Governor House” to postpone the local government elections.

Carrying placards and banners, a large number of party workers along with Mr Zaidi, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, PTI Karachi president Bilal Ghaffar, PTI Parliamentary Leader in the Sindh Assembly Khurrum Sher Zaman, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Information Secretary Sindh MPA Arsalan Taj, MPA Abbas Jafri, deputy information secretary Nisar Shar and other leaders attended the protest sit-in.

JI protest

Earlier at his party headquarters called Idara Noor-i-Haq, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman called the Sindh government announcement of delaying the polls a ‘fascist move’ and accused the ruling PPP of being a feudal party which had an ‘urban facilitator’ in the shape of MQM-P.

“Now it’s time for Karachiites to use this election as an opportunity and play their due role by coming forward on January 15 to vote for Jamaat-i-Islami to start a new era in the history of the mega city,” he said.

“Always keep this fact in mind that Karachi and Karachiites had been deprived of their civic and democratic rights in 2013 when the MQM was a part of the government but the party enjoyed the coalition government, perks, and ministries and continued to facilitate the PPP government.”

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023