Karachi mayor: Hafiz Naeem conditionally agrees on talks with PPP

KARACHI: For establishing local government (LG) and mayorship, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has shown conditional agreement for holding talks with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

While talking to the ARY News programme ‘11th Hour’, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman criticised the ruling PPP and said that the government is trying to steal the mandate of Karachi citizens, on the other hand, they are showing a willingness to hold talks.

He said that attempts are continued to manipulate the Karachi LG polls results. Hafiz Naeem said that Karachiites showed confidence in the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and his political party secured the highest count of votes as compared to other political parties.

READ: KARACHI LG POLLS RESULTS: ECP TAKES NOTICE OF JI’S COMPLAINTS

He blamed the Sindh government for affecting the voters’ turnout by spreading confusion among the masses regarding the LG polls.

Hafiz Naeem said that JI is ready to hold talks with PPP only after it changes its attitude. He urged the government to stop the fraud of recounting of votes in different union councils (UCs) to snatch more seats.

He said that the Karachi mayor will belong to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) at any cost.

He added that JI put a condition to not initiate talks for the LG set-up until the release of complete results. He said that the recounting of votes was started without any legal notice in different UCs in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Malir which was stopped by the JI workers.

READ: PPP READY TO FORM LOCAL GOVT IN KARACHI WITH JI: SAEED GHANI

He alleged that most returning officers (ROs) belong to bureaucracy. He demanded strict action against the ROs for manipulating the LG polls results.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that his political party is starting a movement for Karachiites by joining them in every street and neighbourhood.

He said that JI representatives will not wait for oath-taking events and will contact the citizens. He said that JI will organise rallies and also observe Youm-e-Tashakur on Friday (tomorrow).