JI keeps all options open ahead of Karachi mayor election

• Siraj urges ECP to fulfil responsibility of fair, transparent results
• Hafiz Naeem invites all stakeholders for development of city
• Party delegation set to meet PTI today

KARACHI: A day after holding talks with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, the Jamaat-i-Islami is set to explore its options for getting the coveted office of the Karachi mayor as the party announced on Friday that it would be meeting the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf — the third largest party in the local government elections — on Saturday (today).

However, in a message of reconciliation, the JI called for unity among all parties of the metropolis to rebuild the ‘devastated city’ and restore its ‘lost glory’.

The JI has emerged as the second largest party in the city but it needs support of either the PPP or PTI to get its candidate elected as Karachi mayor. The PPP had already rejected any chance of an alliance with the PTI.

The party, which sounds confident to bring its candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman as the mayor of Karachi, also vowed to hold talks and keep the doors of dialogue open to all political stakeholders calling it crucial for the sustainability of an effective local government system.

Marking ‘the day of gratitude’ over its win in the Jan 15 local government, the party staged a rally on New M. A. Jinnah Road near its headquarters Idara Noor-i-Haq, where the leaders addressed and shared their future action plan.

The rally was attended by a large number of party workers and supporters, including women and children.

The JI has warned that any attempt to ‘steal’ the people’s mandate will lead to strong reaction across the country.

“We want this process to complete peacefully and it’s the responsibility of the ruling PPP and the Election Commission of Pakistan to lead from the front and play their role for transparent and fair results,” said JI chief Sirajul Haq while addressing the rally.

“We have called the party’s central advisory meeting on January 23. If the authorities don’t pay heed and continued with the evil agenda of stealing the mandate, then I warn you that we would be in the street from Karachi to Khyber,” he said.

The JI Karachi chief and the party’s mayor candidate Hafiz Naeem while addressing the rally added that it was the party’s pro-people strategy to resolve their issues.

“I met the PPP leaders yesterday and asked them to recognise our party’s mandate, which has been given by people of Karachi,” he said.

“Tomorrow [Saturday] I would be meeting the PTI friends. Here I invite all parties and appeal them that despite our ideological and political differences, let’s join hands for the development of the city. Let’s bury the hatches and stand united for this devastated city. If you take a step forward, you would find Jamaat way ahead,” he said.

He vowed that the JI would prove the impression wrong that only its partnership with the ruling PPP could provide the opportunity for the city’s rebuilding and development, saying that his party had delivered without any power and authority with the support of people.

“So if anyone in this impression that if the PPP would not be with us in the local government, we will face financial challenges, let me tell them that we would serve this city more than our authority and we would snatch what is right for the people of this city,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023