RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Sindh on Thursday staged a sit-in outside the provincial Election Commission’s office to protest against ‘alleged’ rigging in election.

Members of Awami National Party (AMP) Sindh also took part in the anti-rigging protest. They raised slogans against the ECP for its ‘failure’ in ensuring fair polls. The charged political workers from the left-wing secular and right-wing religious parties waived their party flags, as their leaders sat down on the road in protest against the ECP.

“The sit-in is aimed at registering protest against the ECP due to rigging in polls,” Dr Rashid Mehmood Soomro, president Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Sindh chapter, told the media. He also threatened to flood the roads outside the ECP office with huge participation of workers if his party’s central leadership call for lager demonstration. He said JUI-F/MMA and allied opposition parties rejected rigging and sham results. He warned ECP that protest would be intensified and expand if his leadership demands were not met. Soomro alleged that ECP had changed the poll results in favour of blue-eyed people to bring them to power. He asked the ECP Chief to resign admitting his ‘failure’ in holding fair elections.

“Those, who planned to keep MMA/JUI-F chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, out of parliament, are living in the fools’ paradise,” he said, demanding re-election across the country. He said his party would observe Pakistan’s Independence Day as “the day of struggle for independence” on August 14.

JUI-F/MMA leader also accused police of blocking roads to prevent his party workers from travelling to Karachi to join the protest. He asked the government to withdraw ‘fake’ police cases that were lodged against his party activists.

“A certain party was made to succeed through rigged elections,” said Younus Buneri, a local ANP leader, asserting sham election would never be accepted. He said ANP workers would continue protest demonstration on the call of party’s central leadership against the ‘rigged’ election across the province, particularly in parts of Karachi. Riot police and other law enforcers were widely deputed around the ECP office to protect the national institution building from angry protesters, besides a water-canon was also parked in what appeared a precautionary measure to disperse the demonstrators, if they would have turned violent.