QUETTA: The Jamaat-i-Islami staged a protest rally outside the Quetta Press Club against the postponement of local government elections. The protest was led by JI district emir, Abdul Naeem Rind.

Participants in the demonstration carried placards and banners bearing slogans against the government and the Election Commission, while chanting slogans against postponement of LG elections.

Speaking to protesters, Abdul Naeem Rind said that postponing the local government elections was tantamount to depriving people of their democratic rights.

He said that postponing elections just two days before the polling date despite spending billions of rupees on preparations, was a mockery of democracy.

JI says move tantamount to depriving people of their democratic rights

The Jamaat-i-Islami leader made it clear that no alternative system would be accepted in place of local government elections.

He urged the government not to make a mockery of the rights of millions of citizens of Quetta and demanded immediate announcement of a new election date, along with reimbursement of election expenses incurred by contesting candidates.

Speaking to the media during the protest rally, JI provincial deputy emir and head of the political committee, Zahid Akhtar Baloch, termed the postponement of elections an anti-people move.

He said after the issuance of the election schedule and completion of training of polling staff, certain political parties and leaders approached the court to get the polls delayed due to fear of their certain defeat in the polls at the hands of the masses.

He said Quetta was an unfortunate city where local government elections had been repeatedly delayed for a long time. He said after the announcement of the election schedule for December 28 polls, people facing hardships had felt a renewed sense of hope. He said Jamaat-i-Islami, on the insistence of the public, had issued tickets to sincere and people-friendly candidates in the provincial capital and conducted a vigorous election campaign with strong public support.

Mr Baloch said that while Jamaat-i-Islami might or might not be in power, it would continue its work for the resolution of public issues.

Speaking on the occasion, local government election candidates Abdul Manan Hashmi, Arshad Yousafzai, Abdul Razzaq Bugti, Mir Naveed Baloch, Javed Ahmed Khan and Maulana Abdul Hameed Mansoori said that Jamaat-i-Islami was a genuine, democratic and people-friendly party.

They said that if Jamaat-i-Islami succeeded in the local government elections in Quetta, the city’s problems would be resolved, as hurdles were being deliberately created in the transfer of powers at the grassroots level.

They termed the postponement of local government elections due to the incompetence of the provincial election commissioner and the provincial government condemnable, warning that the decision would increase public hardships and further aggravate the situation in the provincial capital.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2025