KARACHI/HYDERABAD: A day after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan rejected the final delimitation list of national and provincial assembly constituencies notified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has dubbed the revised constituencies in the province as “a rigged package prepared by Pakistan People Party” and demanded that the Sindh election commissioner be removed.

GDA leaders Dr Safdar Ali Abbasi and Sardar Abdur Rahim said that the transparency of the upcoming general elections had become doubtful as the provincial election commissioner was serving as “an operative of the Zardari League”.

“If the anti-people Zardari League is to be brought into a fake government through a rigged election, then what is the need of the election commission and the Constitution,” asked Dr Abbasi.

Sardar Rahim said that the people would not accept such an election under any circumstances if the ECP and administration rigged the elections in any way.

Demands removal of Sindh election commissioner; MQM-P accuses ECP of working as PPP’s ‘B-team’

The GDA leaders cited the example of the provincial constituency of former MPA Moazzam Abbasi in Larkana as a proof of the ECP’s bias. They said that the ECP had transferred votes of his specific area and family to PS-12 from his PS-11 constituency as part of a conspiracy.

They said that this had been done to prevent Mr Abbasi from participating in the election from PS-11 and alleged that that the ECP had made an illegitimate and illogical change in the constituency because Moazzam Abbasi had defeated the PPP candidates twice.

The GDA leaders said that the constituencies where the PPP had been facing challenges were divided into four parts to weaken its opponents.

They said that the objections of other parties including MQM-P on delimitations were valid.

They demanded immediate removal of the provincial election commissioner and rectification of what they called illegal changes in constituencies.

MQM-P raises concern over delimitation in Hyderabad Members of the MQM-P coordination committee criticised the ECP for what they said carrying out delimitations to favour the PPP in Hyderabad.

They accused the ECP of working as the “B-team of the PPP” and called for undoing unjust and unfair delimitations in Hyderabad’s constituencies.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, MQM-P leaders Suhail Mahmood Mashhadi and Wasim Hussain alleged that there were many supporters of the PPP in the ECP.

They accused ECP member from Sindh Nisar Durrani and Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chohan for secretly working for the PPP as they had rejected MQM-P’s objections but accepted all the objections of the PPP.

They alleged that the ECP had shifted voters of urban areas in Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Mirpurkhas to certain rural provincial constituencies for no reason.

PPP also unhappy

Speaking at a press conference at the Larkana Press Club, PPP-Sindh president Senator Nisar Khuhro cast doubts over the ECP notification to announce final delimitation.

He said that the ECP did not provide a clear schedule for filing of objections and time limit for the courts to decide cases pertaining to people’s reservations and objections on the fresh delimitations.

“When you [ECP] don’t’ give a time frame for filing and deciding of objections over the delimitation it speaks volumes that something is being kept secret,” he said, adding that the ECP had better come up with clarity in its announcement.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2023