The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was assisted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in winning the Karachi mayor election, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the Karachi chief of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) claimed on Tuesday.
He made these claims during a press conference in Karachi following his party’s loss in the Karachi mayor election on June 15.
He criticized the electoral body, accusing them of rigging the polls and asserting that there exists a connection between the PPP and the ECP.
“The Election Commission gave the PPP every opportunity, and it has essentially become their B team.”
He further alleged that the process of electing the Karachi mayor and deputy mayor was heavily manipulated, resulting in an election that was essentially hijacked and undermined the mandate of Karachi.
Hafiz Naeem also claimed that the PPP had increased its seats by dividing constituencies according to their own preferences, and on the day of the election, Form 11 was not provided. According to his assertion, Jamaat-e-Islami had more than 100 seats based on Form 11.
“The mayor’s election was merely a formality because even prior to the election, the PPP had already begun stating that people would not turn up,” he added.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman expressed his party’s intention to approach the court and demand the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the whereabouts of the elected representatives on the day of the mayor’s election.
However, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the wining of the PPP in the local bodies’ elections of Sindh as a reflection of the people of Sindh on the performance of the PPP government in Sindh.
Over 30 members of the PTI did not participate in the voting and Murtaza Wahab won the contest of mayoral elections by securing 173 votes and defeated his rival Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman who got 160 votes.
