KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Wednesday warned of staging a sit-in outside the Election Commission of Pakistan building in Karachi if the constitutional body failed to announce schedule for the local government elections in the remaining 11 union committees (UCs) in the city within next two days.

Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-i-Haq, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said that the local government elections were held on January 15 in the city, but the ECP could not announce till now the schedule for the polls in 11 union councils where the elections were postponed because of demise of candidates.

He said that the ECP announced date for useless by-elections on the seats which recently became vacant after the government accepted resignations by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmakers. He also demanded of the ECP to decide the cases of six union councils, declaring them open-and-shut cases on the basis of form 11 and 12.

He said: “The JI accepts the mandate of the Pakistan Peoples Party on its seats,” and asked PPP to accept his party’s mandate as well.

The JI leader also asked the ECP to arrange oath taking for the elected chairmen, vice-chairmen and councillors in union councils.

He said that the ECP held the LG polls despite strong pressure by the PPP and the MQM-P against it, and the JI appreciated its courage. However, he said, the JI reserves the right to protest and launch a democratic and legal battle against the ECP if it goes against the constitution.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023