SUKKUR: Shikarpur’s Jatoi brothers — former MNA Dr Mohammad Ibrahim Jatoi and Abid Hussain Jatoi — who wield considerable influence in politics — have announced their decision to join the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Tuesday.

They made their decision public at a joint press conference with Sindh JUI-F general secretary Maulana Rashid Mahmood Soomro in Shikarpur.

Dr Jatoi categorically stated that he and Abid Jatoi would contest for their seats on JUI-F tickets in the upcoming general elections.

He said they would serve the people of Shikarpur under the leadership of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Dr Jatoi had led the National Peoples Party (NPP) as its provincial president.

Maulana Rashid Mahmood Soomro welcomed the Jatoi brothers and all their associates to the JUI-F fold and congratulated them on their decision.

He criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan’s seemingly partisan role in the election process and asked several questions like: Can the elections be fair and transparent under the supervision of pro-PPP district returning officers and returning officers? Is there no other contesting party other than the PPP in Sindh?

Why certain proposals from PML-N and JUI-F were thrown out and those from PPP, right from Karachi to Kashmore, were approved?

Maulana Soomro warned that if the future government in Sindh was allowed to be formed through undemocratic or extraconstitutional actions, “we will fight against it as we had done against Imran Khan’s government in a democratic way”.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023