By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Monday claimed that his party emerged victorious in around 100 constituencies, adding that attempts were being made to tamper the polling results amid an unusual delay in the results of the second phase of local government (LG) elections in Sindh.
While talking to reporters here, Naeem condemned the ‘efforts’ to reduce his party’s seats, saying that Returning Officers (ROs) in several union councils (UCs) had withheld the results and were attempting to manoeuvre them and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should take notice of it.
Naeem said “We have evidence that we are heading towards clear victory,” and that JI would be able to attain a simple majority to elect Karachi’s mayor. He said that JI was also open to holding talks with all the parties for the betterment of Karachi.
Naeem said that the JI was the only party that was in favour of holding LG polls and that it very worked to hold the elections. He claimed that JI emerged as the number one party in Karachi despite the irregularities by the Sindh government in yesterday’s polling process, adding that his party received votes from even those belonging to other political parties. He also thanked the voters of JI.
Naeem also warned of staging a massive protest “that would make the entire process controversial” in case JI’s demands to secure its mandate are not met.
ECP on delay in LG polls results
The ECP earlier responded to the criticism over the delay in results of yesterday’s LG polls, saying that “this is a complicated process and it takes time to prepare the result of one union council.”
Polling for the second phase of LG elections was held yesterday in 16 districts of Sindh. A total of 17,862 candidates contested the elections, out of which 9,057 were held in Karachi, 6,228 in Hyderabad and 2,577 in Thatta district.
As of Monday, mid-day, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is leading yesterday’s polls, followed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), according to unofficial results.
