Give our full mandate back, Siraj to PPP on Karachi polls

ISLAMABAD    -         Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq said on Wednesday that ROs (returning officers) were forced to change results by the Sindh government in Karachi local bodies polls. The rigging in Sunday’s election was conducted by PPP’s government to prove the provincial ruling party as the leading party in the port city, he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday. Quoting results from Farm 11, he said, the JI had been declared winner in 94 union councils. But, he added, the election results were delayed and then changed at the offices of the ROs. “We want our mandate back,” he demanded, asserting the JI was ready to serve the people of Karachi. He said the JI was a peaceful party but it had many options to take back its mandate. “Don’t try to test our patience,” he said. Haq hoped the PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will play the role to bring Karachi out of confusion. “I expect Asif Zardari will issue directions to PPP Sindh chapter to accept the JI mandate.” The JI chief said the victory of his party in Karachi was not unexpected. Whenever transparent elections were held in the port city, the people reposed confidence in JI, he added, mentioning late Abdus Sattar Afghani and late Naimtullah Khan who had served as Mayor Karachi and proved their brilliance. Karachi, said Haq, was financial jugular vein of the country and it had long been experiencing instability. He said the JI would return peace and prosperity in the biggest city and fulfill the expectations of the Karachiities. Haq said the PDM, the PPP and the PTI added to the miseries of the masses, bringing political and economic crises. He said the PTI first announced that it would never return to assemblies, creating confusion and now when it decided to go back to the Parliament, the speaker of the National Assembly accepted resignations of the PTI members.

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