KARACHI, Sept 19: Pakistan Peoples Party, Sindh chapter on Tuesday conveyed its strong reservations on the ongoing process of registration in the voter’s list to the provincial election commissioner, Sindh.
PPP’s concerns were brought on record when a delegation, led by the provincial president Syed Qaim Ali Shah, met the provincial Election Commissioner Chaudhri Qamaruzzaman. Mr Shah was accompanied by provincial deputy information secretary Waqar Mehdi, president and secretary general of the PPP, Karachi, Rashid Rabbani and Rafiq Engineer, Federal Council member Lal Bux Bhutto and district presidents Afaq Shahid, Raja Razzaq, Qasim Baloch, Fareed Ansari and others.
During the meeting, Syed Qaim Ali Shah maintained that none of the complaints of the PPP had been addressed. He maintained that there was no justification for new voters’ lists and maintained that the purpose could have been served by updating the lists prepared four years ago in 2002 under the same regime. Mr Shah said that the list could have been updated despite serious reservations expressed by the parties.
Mr Shah maintained that NADRA had acknowledged that over 20 million people had not been issued computerized NICs. Out of these 50 per cent were in Sindh whom these cards had not been issued. He claimed that in view of government’s ongoing registration drive, over 20 million people who had not been issued NICs would be deprived of their right of vote. He asked the provincial election commissioner whether or not he would include the names of those people whose name was not included in 2002 list.
Mr Shah was of the view that the staff involved in the registration drive should be under the Election Commission. The concerned staff, he maintained, was working on the instructions of the government and the ruling coalition parties.
He maintained that in Tehsil Nara‘s district Khairpur, votes of Khipro in Tehsil Sanghar were cast and in the locality of 50,000 people 60,000 votes were registered. Similarly in one of the wards of Digri tehsil 5000 votes have been registered as compared to 500 in the past. Mr Shah claimed it was pre-election rigging.
He alleged that a similar situation prevailed in Karachi where its supporters were not enlisted. He claimed that in some areas enumerators had given in writing that they were being forced by the ruling coalition to prepare the voters’ list according to their whims. Mr Shah also narrated grievances in Kashmore and other areas of the province.
Other members of the delegation asked the provincial election commissioner to explain as to why the names of voters of UC-10 Lyari were being registered in UC-11 Lyari. And why the concerned staff was not giving acknowledgment to the people.
Mr Shah made it clear that if interference of the ruling parties in the preparation of voters list was not stopped, it would be rejected.
