Pak hardline party vows ‘ surprise results’
■ TLP chief says once in power, his party will create Islamic state
Karachi, July 2: As Pakistan is all set to go to polls on July 25, a newlylaunched Islamic hardline party led by a radical cleric has expressed confidence to bring “surprising results” as it aimed at making inroads into the existing power matrix by stirring up the religious sentiments of the voters.
The Tehreek- e- Labbaik ( TLP) Pakistan chief, Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who launched the election campaign from Karachi on Sunday night and said that he saw no competition to his party candidates in the elections.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Rizvi, whose legs are paralysed, said his party’s manifesto is same as that of Islam’s teachings to create a truly Islamic welfare state in Pakistan.
“We are confident that those who believe in Khatm- i- Nabuwwat ( the finality of the prophethood) would vote for us and you will see surprising results in the elections,” Rizvi said.
The party has fielded candidates on all the national assembly and provincial assembly seats from the city. Massive traffic jams were witnessed in and around the airport area as the TLP leader travelled in a convoy surrounded by thousands of supporters from the airport to the city.
The little known TLP came into prominence in November last year when its followers led by Rizvi converged at Islamabad and Rawalpindi and staged a sit- in demanding sacking of the then Law Minister Zahid Hamid and strict action against those behind the amendment to the Khatm- e- Nabuwwat oath in the Elections Act 2017.
The amendment had changed the wordings of a clause relating to a candidate’s belief in the finality of the prophethood.