MQM factions unite in protest against Karachi delimitation
Leader likens ‘unfair’ delimitation of constituencies to pre-poll rigging
The delimitation exercise that had been carried out in Karachi was meant to extend a highly undue advantage to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, said Dr Siddiqui.
After years of alienation, the estranged factions of the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Pakistan joined hands for the first time to stage a demonstration protesting the highly controversial delimitation of the constituencies for the local government polls in the provincial capital.
The protest was held outside the Karachi offices of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), where the local polls for the provincial capital are scheduled to take place on January 15. The elections in Karachi and Hyderabad have been pending since July of last year, as they were deferred multiple times by the ECP due to floods.
The demonstration was attended by leaders and activists of MQM Pakistan, the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), the Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM-Haqiqi), and an estranged faction of MQM led by its former central leader, Dr Farooq Sattar.
Lawlessness
Former Karachi mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal, who had previously been associated with MQM, formed the PSP in 2016 after parting ways with his parent political party. The MQM-Haqiqi came into existence in 1992 during an armyled operation against lawlessness in urban areas of Sindh.
MQM Pakistan chief Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui previously met with the leadership of all the factions to convince them to jointly stage the demonstration. Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori, who also belongs to MQM, played an active role in bringing together all the divided factions of the party.
Addressing the demonstrators, Dr Siddiqui said that injustice had been done to Karachi when a flawed census drive in 2017 failed to accurately count the population of the city. He said that the highly unfair delimitation of the constituencies was like committing pre-poll rigging in Karachi, as local government polls couldn’t be held fairly in the city without rectifying these issues.
He said that the delimitation exercise that had been carried out in Karachi was meant to extend a highly undue advantage to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party.
Dr Siddiqui said that under the present circumstances, the residents of Karachi wouldn’t have the chance to elect their preferred representatives for managing the civic and municipal affairs of the city.
He also urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take notice of the situation and initiate steps to serve justice to the residents of the city.
PSP Chief Mustafa Kamal asked the rulers to empower the local government agencies of the province so that they can quickly resolve the basic civic issues of the people at their doorstep.