Members of Awami National Party including Bashir Jan arrive to meet with Secretary ECP in Karachi on Friday. – Photo by Online

KARACHI: Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan on Friday met with ten delegations of different political parties including the one of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) over the Supreme Court’s directives for delimitation of constituencies in Karachi, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to reporters after the meetings, Khan said it was difficult to move ahead without consulting all stakeholders on the issue. “Purpose of delimitation is to create harmony among the citizens,” he said.

Khan, after attending a separate meeting of the provincial high authorities on Thursday, had said the ECP has worked out a blueprint to carry out delimitation work in Karachi, as everyone is keen to see law and order so that different communities in the city live in peace and harmony.

After his meeting with the secretary, MQM leader Raza Haroon told media representatives that the process of delimitation of constituencies is given in the constitution. He declared delimitating any particular area as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

Backing Haroon and the MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s Thursday statement, the party’s Rabita Committee (coordination committee) in a statement said, “If the reason behind the act is unrest in Karachi, then, law and order in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is even worse than the metropolis.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Taj Haider and Awami National Party (ANP) leaders Bashir Jan and Shahi Syed have welcomed the decision of the apex court.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Saleem Zia also supported the decision and said only fair and transparent elections can rid Karachi of violence and unrest.

Moreover, the provincial election commission of Sindh has issued a notice of delimiting constituencies in Noshero Feroz as well.

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