KARACHI, Dec 11: The Pakistan People’s Party on Tuesday inaugurated its election monitoring cell (EMC) Sindh to monitor the upcoming general elections scheduled for Jan 8, 2008, at Clifton here. The cell will start its proper operations from Wednesday.
PPP Sindh president Syed Qaim Ali Shah inaugurated the cell while party leaders Nafees A. Siddiqi, Karachi division president Rashid Rabbani and N.D. Khan were also present.
The EMC will be headed by Mr Siddiqi. He said the cell would have its main office in Karachi while it would also have offices in the divisional headquarters and liaison offices in all the districts of Sindh.
He said the cell would operate in close coordination with the party’s campaign committee, information cell and anti-rigging cell. These bodies would also have a liaison with Bilawal House, the PPP’s Islamabad party secretariat and the party’s media cell in Islamabad.
Taj Haider will lead the anti-rigging cell while Sherry Rehman will chair the media information committee.
Giving further details about the members of each body, he said N.D. Khan, Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi and Rukhsana Zubairi were also members of the EMC.
Mr Siddiqi said that the PPP was the first party in Pakistan to announce its election manifesto. He said the English version of the manifesto was available, while the Sindhi and Urdu versions would be available soon.
He said the PPP has already expressed concerns about plans by certain elements to allegedly rig the general elections. “Keeping in view the reports about alleged plans of rigging in the elections, the EMC has been established, which will certainly play a vital role”, he said.
He said all necessary logistical facilities, including communication equipment, were available in the EMC.
Speaking about the operations of the cell, he said close liaison would be developed with senior party leaders in Sindh, candidates and their chief election agents, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the administration, the diplomatic corps as well as with the media.
He said a database compiling the statements of different politicians would also be developed, which, he said, would be provided to the party leadership and party chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
‘EC ignoring rigging complaints’
Addressing a press conference at the residence of Nafees Siddiqi after inaugurating the PPP’s election monitoring cell, Syed Qaim Ali Shah alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (EC) was not acting on complaints sent to it regarding what he called “pre-poll rigging”.
He claimed that if free, fair and transparent elections were held, the PPP would sweep polls across the country.
Regarding the “pre-poll rigging”, he said he had already informed the media that the caretaker set-up was involved in it. He demanded caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Abdul Qadir Halepota to bar bureaucrats and nazims from interfering in the electoral process. He flayed an alleged murder attempt on his party candidate in Hyderabad by political opponents.
He said that his party’s EMC would send all complaints regarding “pre-poll rigging” to the EC.
He claimed that the 2002 elections had been rigged, adding that now, people would not accept any rigged election and the imposition of any undemocratic elements on the nation.
To a query regarding voters’ lists, he said that despite the order of the Supreme Court, the names of some 4.6 million people were not included in voters’ lists in Sindh only.
He said that the PPP had sent its charter of 14 demands to the government, including the suspension of local bodies, the restoration of democracy and the lifting of curbs on the media.
Qaim Ali Shah also welcomed the decision of the major political parties, especially the PML-N, to contest the general elections. He said the political parties in Pakistan should not leave the field open for others.—APP/PPI
