PPP wants to work with JI for betterment of Karachi: Ghani

President of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi chapter Saeed Ghani said on Thursday that his party wished to work in collaboration with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) for the betterment of the city, Aaj News reported.

While addressing a joint press conference along with JI Karachi President Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Ghani said PPP acknowledges JI’s mandate and felicitated the party for winning “so many” seats in the local government (LG) elections in Karachi.

He said the PPP wanted to form a local government in coalition with JI and assured the Sindh government’s assistance “in any way possible” to address JI’s grievances regarding rigging in LG polls.

Speaking on the occasion, Naeem-ur-Rehman said JI had severe reservations about the role of returning officers (RO) in manipulating results in many constituencies and the provincial government’s conduct on the issue.

He, however, said that the Sindh government had assured him to address all his “valid” concerns.

Earlier, a PPP delegation led by provincial minister Saeed Ghani visited JI Karachi headquarters Idara Noor-e-Haq to hold talks on the formation of local government (LG) and election of Karachi Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) mayor.

The PPP delegation included Saeed Ghani, UC Chairman Najmi Alam, and Energy Minister Imtiaz Sheikh.

The meeting comes a day after Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah telephoned Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman as a step forward toward reconciliation between the ruling PPP and the JI.

On Tuesday, the JI Karachi chief showed conditional agreement for holding talks with PPP over Karachi mayorship.

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While talking to the media, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman criticised the ruling PPP and said that the government was trying to steal the mandate of Karachi citizens, on the other hand, they were showing a willingness to hold talks.

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 votes in different union councils (UCs) to snatch more seats.

As per the results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PPP is in the lead with success in 91 Union Councils out of 235. JI stands second with victories in 88 UCs, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came third after winning in 40 UCs.