The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQMP) on Monday accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of failing to address its concerns over delimitations of constituencies, particularly in Sindh, alleging the electoral body had solely facilitated the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has ruled the province for 15 years.
Addressing media after a meeting between a MQMP delegation and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in Islamabad, party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui alleged the electoral body had “resolved the issues raised by the PPP in Sindh, but failed to address the concerns of other parties.” Stressing that his party had several expectations of the CEC, he regretted that he did not believe any of its concerns would be addressed.
Alleging that Sindh has been divided into two parts politically, administratively, and electorally, he warned that the prevailing crises in the country would intensify if the ECP and the interim Sindh government failed to ensure transparent elections. “The provincial election commissioner is a sworn worker of PPP and he is doing anything he can for the party,” claimed Siddiqui, alleging further that former ministers of the PPP government were handling all matters in Sindh.
“The caretaker government is protecting the PPP’s interests and the Chief Minister’s House is the center for protecting the PPP’s interests,” he alleged, as MQMP leader Farooq Sattar claimed the ECP had accepted all objections raised by the PPP, while shunning concerns of his party. “None of our objections regarding the delimitation were accepted. We have a seat in Karachi’s Baldia Town,” he said, noting that Saeedabad—previously a part of Baldia Town constituency—was now in the Keamari constituency.
Sattar hoped that the CEC, or his party, would challenge the delimitations before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to ensure justice. PMLN Sindh President Bashir Memon echoed his words during a press conference in Karachi. Rejecting the fresh delimitation in the province, he alleged the provincial election commissioner was manipulating the process to benefit the PPP.
Describing the fresh delimitation as a “fraud” with the people of Sindh, he said the PMLN did not accept its results. “[We] hope that the CEC would pay heed and take notice of this fraud exercise. Otherwise, we’re left with no option but to challenge these delimitations in courts,” he warned, while accusing the interim Sindh government of negating necessary neutrality through its support of the PPP.
Joining the MQMP and PMLN were the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), who also slammed the fresh delimitation exercise in separate press conferences.
In Larkana, JUIF leader Rashid Mehmood Soomro accused the ECP of ignoring its objections and proposals, alleging it announced the final delimitations to favor the PPP. Describing it as pre-poll rigging, he vowed to fight against the injustices and warned that any attempts to “impose” the PPP in Sindh would trigger protests outside ECP offices nationwide. He also called for the removal of the Sindh election commissioner.
Also on Monday, the GDA told a press conference in Karachi that free and fair polls were impossible until all objections to the delimitation exercise were resolved. Accusing the PPP of “deliberately” making chances of constituencies that were GDA strongholds, its leaders urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the situation. “If conducting elections within 90 days is constitutionally binding, then conducting fair and transparent elections is also a constitutional right,” they said.
Thus far, the PPP is the only major party of Sindh to have not voiced any objections to the final delimitations in Sindh notified by the ECP. It accused its critics of seeking a “postponement” of elections and urged them to accept the results of the delimitations.