The PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) established a joint committee on Saturday during the second phase of the Sindh local government elections to “get back what was stolen in rigging” and count Form-11s, which are polling station result forms issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
“The committee will comprise of four members, two each from both the parties,” PTI leader Ali Haider Zaidi stated in a press conference with JI Karachi Chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
In 16 districts, the second phase of Sindh’s elections for local government took place on January 15. Major opposition parties, including the PPP, were concerned about the unusual delay in Karachi’s results, so they blamed the ECP for mismanagement.
The electoral body took more than 36 hours to announce the results of 236 union committees in Karachi despite opposition parties PTI and JI’s claims that the provincial administration was “rigging and managing things” in its favor. The appointive guard dog has not yet reported the outcomes, so challenging gatherings are uncertain of their command.
In a joint interview with the media today, Zaidi claimed that PTI’s “mandate was stolen” from nearly forty union councils.
“We have all the Form 11s,” he stated. He stated, “We have decided to sit together with Form 11s in our hands.” Since before the elections, PTI and JI have been communicating.”
In the meantime, the joint committee will “exchange notes and Form 11s” throughout the procedure, as stated by JI’s Rehman.
“Obviously, it currently has a position to hopefully appoint our mayor,” he stated, “Jamaat-e-Islami has presented itself [in the elections].”
Rehman thanked Zaidi and his team for “accepting [and] welcoming” JI’s mandate and stated, “We have agreed that we will help each other for the protection of our individual mandates.”
He went on to say that, despite the “political confrontation and difference of opinion” that was taking place right now, JI and PTI had decided to come to an agreement on how to improve the city.
Rehman made the statement, “JI can play its role and is ready to serve the city with a mayor [appointed through consensus] if the PTI is up for it,” implying that the two political organizations might form a coalition in order to bring a mayor to Karachi.
“We [PTI and JI] share a working relationship,” despite all of the negative statements that have been made previously.
The JI chief asked the PTI to “help” his party so that “the 35 million residents of Karachi can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Zaidi responded by stating that other high-ranking party leaders would be consulted prior to making a decision.
On Thursday, the head of the JI met with the PPP delegation led by Saeed Ghani to try to reach an agreement. He expressed optimism that the PPP, which had the most seats in the most recent elections, would address the concerns of his party regarding the matter.
Ghani had expressed the hope that the JI would also “certainly” wish to collaborate with the PPP in the near future and had promised Rehman that the Sindh government would respond to the JI’s complaints.
