JI’s Naeemur Rehman Thursday said that the “theft of public mandate” was unacceptable to the party. “The people of the city voted for us. These delimitations were fake. They were only done to provide an advantage to one party,” he claimed. But at the same time, Rehman said that it was his responsibility to protect “each and every vote” and refused to accept the newly-elected mayor.
“Our fight is not against the PPP or Murtaza Wahab, it is against theft and dacoity.” “It is against rigging done by the ECP. Our fight is for the people of Karachi, Pakistan, and the province of Sindh,” the JI leader asserted.\ Rehman further stated that his party held the right to peaceful protests and would even approach the courts. Earlier, JI chief Sirajul Haq also raised questions on the mayoral elections. “The election of Karachi’s mayor through the kidnapping of elected candidates, buying of votes, and rigging is a big question on the Constitution and democracy,” he said in a tweet.
Terming the polls a “mockery of democracy”, he alleged that the collusion between the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Sindh government was “evident”. In another tweet, the JI chief said his party would observe “Black Day” across the country tomorrow (June 16) and requested those who respected the Constitution to participate. Separately, the JI also wrote a letter to the ECP, claiming that the electoral body had failed to fulfill its responsibility of holding free and fair polls. It stated that the party had been repeatedly writing to the watchdog and apprised it of the “unethical” and “illegal” practices of the PPP but regretted that timely action was not taken.
“On the occasion of the mayor’s election, the gates of the voting hall were locked and 29 PTI members were forcibly abducted from their homes by their elite force in the process,” JI alleged, adding that the “majority was converted into a minority through deception”.
