MQM-P expresses distrust in Sindh election commissioner

• Kamal calls Sindh election commissioner "previous govt's worker".
• "There should be no delay in elections," says MQM-P leader.
• MQM-P insists elections should be held after delimitation. 

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has expressed distrust in provincial election commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan, calling upon Sindh caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar to take steps to ensure transparency in the polls.

MQM-P’s Senior Deputy Convener Mustafa Kamal in a statement on Thursday also lashed out at those opposing delimitations, saying "those who are talking about holding elections without delimitations of constituencies should be ashamed of themselves," The News reported.

He added: "[Aijaz Anwar] Chauhan should be replaced. He is a former worker of the previous provincial government. The MQM-P demands the replacement of the provincial election commissioner. If there was a need for a transfer, it should have happened. We demand the replacement of the provincial election commissioner."

"We say there should be no delay in the elections," Kamal said, adding that on April 7, the population of Sindh was counted and Karachi’s population was reported as 13 million. 

However, MQM-Pakistan was working with evidence and documents and raised the issue with the federal government to fight Karachi’s case.

He said the MQM-Pakistan made it possible to add 7.3 million people who were not enumerated in the census to Karachi’s population. Adopting delaying tactics in the elections would not work, he said and urged the caretaker provincial government to cooperate with the election commission for new delimitations.

The MQM-P leader said that in 2018, RTS was used to manipulate the elections. Our demand is that elections should be held after the delimitation of new constituencies, he said.

When the municipal institutions’ term ended in 2019, elections were not held for three years. On the one hand, the neighboring country had reached the moon, but on the other hand children in the largest city of Pakistan were dying after falling into uncovered manholes, he lamented.

He said the city’s water is being stolen and sold to us. He urged that the systems of the Sindh Building Control Authority and the Karachi Development Authority should be improved.

These political governments have established their systems. In the municipal elections, dacoits were coming with ballot boxes, and the whole country witnessed the so-called local bodies elections, he remarked.

He said Pakistan cannot bear any more experiments, and a power crisis has arisen in Pakistan. He said that after terrorism, the biggest loss is due to electricity theft, and those stealing electricity are not being caught. He said massive reforms are needed in elections and democracy.