KARACHI: The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) on Thursday said that the people would reject the upcoming general election if a level playing field was not given to contesting parties in Sindh.

According to a GDA press release, a consultative meeting with GDA chief coordinator Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashidi at his residence, expressed its concern over the situation where the “Election Commission of Pakistan is not ensuring level playing field for political parties”.

Pir Rashidi, addressing the meeting, said that if a level playing field was not provided to contesting parties in Sindh, the masses would reject results of the upcoming general elections.

He observed that the ECP appeared indifferent while the interim provincial government was “working as the B-team of Pakistan Peoples Party”.

He said that it would be useless to hold elections through government officials running “the system of Pakistan Peoples Party mafia”.

Regarding a recent meeting between a PML-N delegation and Pir Pagara, he said that the GDA apprised the visitors about its position on various issues.

The meeting was informed that separate consultations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl were under way for coordination and cooperation in the forthcoming elections.

Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashidi said that the GDA would work hard to speed up the communication and contacts with the people.

“Victory in the upcoming elections is the destiny of GDA,” he remarked.

Other GDA leaders present at the meeting were Dr Safdar Abbasi, Syed Zain Shah, Sardar Abdul Rahim, Irfanullah Marwat, Abdul Razzaq Rahimo and others.

Later, speaking to Dawn, GDA information secretary Sardar Abdul Rahim expressed his optimism about GDA’s performance in the 2024 elections.

He said that on the one hand, not only PPP’s 15-year rule in Sindh was utter failure in improving standard of life in the province and, on the other, “the ruling Zardari mafia deceived the poor and usurped and looted Sindh’s resources to fill up their personal coffers”.

He added: “GDA will soon make its manifesto public which will be realistically pro-people as well as development- and welfare-oriented.”

Safdar Rahim said that recent GDA workers’ conventions through district coordination committees were a great success which showed tremendous enthusiasm among participants. They fully backed the alliance and its political stand, he added.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2023