Gearing up for show of strength, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have decided to hold a joint rally in the city on November 28. The rally will be addressed by PTI chairman Imran Khan and JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq. The JI-PTI rally is taking place ahead of third phase of local government elections scheduled to be held on December 5.
"We [JI-PTI] are holding a great rally on November 28 to attract tens of thousands of people and I and Imran Khan will participate in it," JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq, along with PTI's Karachi chapter head, Ali Zaidi, told a news conference held at Idarae Noor-e-Haq on Wednesday.
"There is a stratum which has potential to rig polls and hijack elections, but this time they won't succeed in their designs," JI chief said, asking the Election Commission to deploy army and Rangers personnel in the polling booths for ensuring a peaceful and fair election.
"We want election not selection," he asked the EC and urged the citizens to capitalise on the 'golden' opportunity to choose whom they cherished the most for the development, peace and order in the metropolis. He said that citizens have an opportunity to get rid of menace of extortion, violence and target killings for restoring the city's past glory for their 'bright' future.
Praising the public, he asked the citizens to come out for voting fearlessly and defeat the forces of status quo, which had kept the city underdeveloped for the last three decades. He said that the citizens could help build a 'confident' Karachi that continued to shelter all ethnicities and religious groups, ensuring a developed and prosperous Pakistan.
Siraj-ul-Haq also asked the opposition parties to do politics of ideologies and bring an end to division in the society created on the basis of ethnicity. "It is needed to bring the city out of crisis and forge unity in the public," he said and lauded the JI-PTI alliance to unite the society and build Karachi.
Complaining about the irregularities in electoral lists, he said that there are certain objections that the EC should address ahead of the polls.
Replying to a question, he said that the JI-PTI alliance had never sought postponement of the polls rather it wanted to extend the election's date as Chehlum was taking place on December 3. But now, he said, the alliance was ready to head for polls as per its scheduled date.
"Karachi produces 62 per cent of tax revenue and records 50pc daily bank deposits of the country's total financial dealings," Ali Zaidi told the newsmen, saying that being the world's third largest city it never looked one of the mega cities for heaps of garbage, poor civic and healthcare services.
"You must be ashamed of what you have done with this city," he said, adding that the JI-PTI alliance would host a 'historic' welcome to Siraj-ul-Haq and Imran Khan on November 28. Despite two different parties with distinctive ideologies, he said that the JI-PTI would bring change in the city. "This city is going back instead of leading," he said.
He said that the electoral alliance had already set three primary conditions to the EC for fair polls that included: The EC should ensure filing up of form 14 immediately after polling, supply of election material to booths and back to the commission office under the supervision of law enforcers and the Rangers officials should be given magisterial powers.
Comments
Comments are closed.