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KARACHI, June 21: Campaigning for NA-255 byelection came to a close at midnight on Saturday.
One of the rallies marking the end of the campaigning was organized by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for its candidate, Dr Farooq Sattar, which was addressed by Altaf Hussain.
Earlier on Friday night Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal held a big public rally in Landhi-4 where MMA leadership called upon the people to elect Mohammad Aslam Mujahid in the byelection.
The MMA leadership said that vote for the MMA will be a vote for the supremacy of Constitution and the Parliament.
Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani who is MMA chief addressing the meeting said rulers were pushing the country towards slavery of the US.
The MMA wanted to enforce Nizam-i-Mustafa and to stabilize democracy, he said.
Maulana Noorani said the MMA’s leadership neither had British passports nor had left the country during difficult times.
He said the MMA would compete with those who wanted to deface Islam in the name of ‘modern Islam’.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman — the MMA’s Secretary General and a member of the National Assembly — said a “war” was going on between those striving to give the country under US imperialism and those who wanted to rid it of imperialists.
He asked the people to elect those who were striving for freedom by putting a stamp of approval against the MMA’s election symbol on June 23.
He said the Shariat Bill adopted by the NWFP assembly was in accordance with the spirit of Islam which had been passed unanimously — that is, with the members representing the minorities and opposition parties voting alongside the treasury MPAs.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad — the vice president of MMA — claimed that the alliance was not just a party but a movement for the unity of the Ummah and the biggest political force in the country. He said the LFO and unilateral amendments in the Constitution were aimed at increasing the powers of certain individuals, besides imposing a dictatorship. The MMA’s struggle against the dictatorial tendencies would continue.
“If Gen Musharraf does not insist on getting his amendments conceded, we are prepared to accept him as the president but if he continues his intransigent attitude in collusion with the US and Britain, then we would not accept him as the president.”
He said there was only one possible solution for the Kashmiris, not ten or 12, and that is whether they wanted to live with India or Pakistan. The American formula was neither acceptable to the Kashmiris nor to the Palestinians, he pointed out, adding that in NA-255 competition was not between Muhammad Aslam Mujahid and Dr Farooq Sattar but between two ideologies.
Prof Sajid Mir, another VP of MMA, said the uniform had protected the country neither in the past nor will it do so today.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Asadullah Bhutto, Allama Hasan Turabi and Muhammad Aslam Mujahid also addressed the meeting.
ARRANGEMENTS: Meanwhile, all arrangements for peaceful polling were finalized.
The polling in the constituency is scheduled for June 23, from 8am to 5pm. This constituency fell vacant due to the death of Mehmood Qureshi, vice president of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement who was elected to the National Assembly in October 10 general elections.
It is learnt that election material would be supplied to the polling staff with the provision of transport facility, so that material and staff could reach the destinations on time before the commencement of polling.
According to reliable sources, the election material would be handed over to the concerned presiding officers in the presence of the police. A total of 37 buses would be deployed to take the election material from the main distribution point to the polling stations in the supervision of police officials.
In the constituency, which is spread over Landhi and Korangi areas, 194 polling stations have been set up with 659 booths, out of which 377 are for males and 282 for females.
The services of 4,745 police officials have been acquired for election duty. Of these, 2,066 would be posted in Landhi where 135 polling stations have been set up. More than 1,200 police officials would be deployed in Korangi where 59 polling stations have been established.
Eighteen police pickets in Landhi and 4 pickets in Korangi have been set up which would carry out security duties under the supervision of the rangers. In addition, the army personnel would be patrolling the constituency areas.
These personnel will be in addition to 1,435 police officers already deployed in 191 pickets in the NA-255 constituency.
