File photo of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Monday announced that his party will stage a “massive” demonstration outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office in Islamabad on June 23 (Friday) to protest the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s alleged rigging in the Karachi mayoral election.
“We will question the ECP about the polls it held in Karachi,” he said, reiterating his demand for the electoral body to declare the local body elections invalid and “correct” its mistakes. “We can’t accept these fake and rigged elections,” he said, claiming the PPP had “unlawfully” assumed control of Karachi’s mandate.
The JI leader accused the ECP of failing to ensure free and fair elections in Karachi and questioned how it could be expected to do so nationwide. “This was just a trailer, the entire film is yet to be unveiled,” he said, hinting at potential rigging in the general elections due for later this year. “How can we trust this institution to hold unbiased elections? If the ECP works as a facilitator for parties, how will democracy flourish in Pakistan?” he questioned, adding that the JI would utilize all available legal means to clarify the situation for the public.
“If you [PPP] had won the elections in a fair manner, we would have accepted the results without any complaints,” he claimed. “But we won’t accept this rigging in any way,” he said, adding that the JI was considering taking a convoy of protesters from Karachi to the federal capital for its demonstration. He also warned the PPP against “interfering” in development work already underway in union councils held by the JI.
The ongoing conflict between the JI and PPP started with the local body elections, and ramped up ahead of the Karachi mayor’s election, as Rehman secured the support of the PTI, while the PPP’s Murtaza Wahab had the support of the PMLN and JUIF. The JI commanded 132 union council members, which gave it a total strength of 192 when combined with the 61 of the PTI. By contrast, the PPP won 155 seats, which gave it a total strength of 172 when combined with the seats of the PMLN and JUIF.
However, Rehman only received 160 votes after 30 of the PTI’s union council members abstained from the vote. As a consequence, the JI has accused the PPP’s Sindh government of pressuring the PTI’s lawmakers against voting for Rehman, with the party rejecting the results of the mayoral election. On Saturday, the party observed a ‘Black Day’ over Wahab’s election as Karachi mayor and staged protests nationwide against it.