KARACHI, June 9: Reacting angrily to the Chief Election Commissioner's decision of annulling May 12th elections in the two national and one provincial assembly constituencies in the metropolis
, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement leaders called it miscarriage of justice and demanded that the CEC should be arrested and tried for his alleged links with the conspiracy of destabilizing the government.
The demand was articulated at a hurriedly called news conference at Nine Zero on Wednesday. Aftab Shaikh and other Muttahida leaders held the CEC and other members responsible for the decision against natural justice.
The Muttahida leaders said that the MQM Rabita Committee would take final decision after examining all aspects. However, they neither gave a deadline nor said anything on MQM's decision to quit the government if the demands were not met.
The Election Commission in its 40 page judgment had ordered re-election in PS-127, NA-240 and NA-246 on Aug 8. The commission had stalled official announcement of election results in three constituencies owing to complaints of violence resulting in the death of about a dozen people and complaints of ballot stuffing.
Aftab Shaikh said that this decision said was patently illegal and a mockery of law, as it was pronounced without hearing the parties. He said the judgment had established that some elements within the system were working against it.
He accused the CEC of disenfranchising a vast majority of voters of the above-mentioned constituencies without giving an opportunity to the candidates to present their point of view.
The candidates, according to him, had won the elections with a great margin. He pointed out that the complainants had boycotted the proceedings. He demanded of President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and the ISI chief Gen Ehsan to take serious and immediate notice of this situation and conduct inquiry into the possibility of the CEC's role in the recent violence and attacks on the president.
According to the law of natural justice, he said that nobody could be condemned without being granted the right of hearing. He claimed that none of his party candidates were given any notice of such a hearing.
He regretted that those who had been the members of judiciary used the short summary method and said that the CEC was among those who had taken fresh oath to become the chief justice.
It is important to find out on whose side this man is, who had sold out his conscience and taken fresh oath only to become the chief justice, and whom is he supporting and trying to create disorder and plunge the city into another blood bath, asked Mr Shaikh.
Addressing the CEC as Gen Irshad Hassan Khan, Mr Shaikh said the decision was allegedly a part of the diabolical conspiracy that led to the recent bomb explosions in the city and killings on the election day.
He also lashed out at the religious parties for creating law and order situation in Karachi and said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal was not only based in Karachi.
Speaking at the conference, Shoaib Bokhari demanded that a case should be registered against the CEC under sections 109, 120 pertaining to conspiracy. Syed Sardar Ahmad, Adil Siddiqui and Babar Ghori also addressed the press conference.
