SUKKUR: Deputy Chairman of the Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who is the general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), has said that his party will raise its voice in the upper house of parliament over the unfair means adopted by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with regard to the upcoming local government elections in Sindh.

Speaking at a press conference at Sadat House in Sukkur on Saturday, Maulana Haideri said there had been widespread complaints from the opposition parties contesting the LG polls in Sindh that the Pakistan Peoples Party had not only been using the state machinery to assist and promote its candidates but also harassing its rival candidates and committing other violations of the code of conduct.

He observed that all such activities would be tantamount to pre-poll rigging and were harmful to democracy. He said local bodies were the basic democratic institutions and the people sent to these houses through rigging would only damage the democratic system.

“The masses want change but rigging will disappoint them as it was aimed at denying their right to choose the right public representatives,” he argued. He warned that people would lose their trust in democracy if rigging was resorted to.

In reply to a question, the Maulana said that Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani before leaving for abroad had paved the way for Muttahida Qaumi Movement senators’ return to the upper house.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2015

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