The ten-party anti-PPP grouping on Saturday formally announced forming an electoral alliance in Sindh. Representatives of Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), National Peoples Party (NPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Sindh United Party (SUP), Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP), Awami Tehreek (AT) and Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) made the announcement under the umbrella of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F).
Addressing a press conference at the Jam House, PML-F's Secretary-General Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh said that representatives of 10 political and religious parties had decided to form an electoral alliance in Sindh against the PPP and its allies. He said that leaders of PML-N, JUI-F, JI, NPP, JUP-Noorani, SUP, STP, Awami Tehreek and PST also decided to make seat adjustments on all National Assembly and provincial assembly seats in Sindh under the leadership of Pir Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi, the chief of PML-F.
"In the light of Pir Pagara's decision, our electoral alliance will block a possible PPP walkover in Sindh in the upcoming elections...our candidates will secure seats with majority of votes," he claimed. Accusing the PPP-led coalition government of having plunged the country into an abyss, he said that the people were facing multiple problems and they were worried about their future.
The PPP, he said, had done injustice with the people of Sindh while approving the Sindh Peoples Local Government Act (SPLGA) of 2012, which, according to him, amounted to mounting an attack on Sindh's sovereignty. He said that Sindhi people had rejected the new local government law and they would continue to resist under Pir Pagara's leadership.
Imtiaz Shaikh demanded of the government to announce the date for elections and form a caretaker set up at all provincial and federal levels, including Sindh. According to him, the holding of transparent elections were not possible in the presence of current politically-appointed governors. He demanded of the government quickly removing all governors and appoint neutral governors in all provinces.
Expressing reservations over the process of the verification of voters' lists in Karachi, he said that this process should have been initiated in the light of Supreme Court's verdict. The PML-F leader also called for delimitation of constituencies in Karachi, besides urging the government to curb the continuing spate of targeted killings in the Sindh metropolis.
Meanwhile, JI leader Mohammad Hussain Mehanti announced that the new alliance would stage a march in protest against the verification of voters' lists in Karachi on Sunday (today) from Numaish Chowrangi to Tibet Centre. JUI-F leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro said that all political and religious parties had joined hands for upholding the rights of the people of Sindh and they would "not let us down".
Earlier, the decision regarding the formation of the electoral alliance was taken at a three-hour-long meeting held at the Jam House under Imtiaz Shaikh. PML-F's Jam Madad Ali, NPP's Masroor Jatoi, SUP's Shah Mohammad Shah, Awami Tehreek's Alam Shah, JUI-F's Khalid Mehmood Soomro, PST's Shakil Qadri, PML-N's Salim Zia, JI's Hussein Mehnati, JUP's Owais Noorani STP's Hyder Shahani and others attended the meeting.