JUI-F, MQM-P join hands to ‘free people of Sindh from clutches of PPP’

• MQM-P says JUI-F has political force in rural Sindh.
• "New political alliance is ready to serve people of Sindh."
• JUI-F calls on ECP to remove reservations of allied parties. 

KARACHI: The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday decided to go together in alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh.

The development came after a meeting of a JUI-F delegation led by Molana Rashid Mehmood Soomro, with the MQM-P Rabita Committee at their temporary headquarters in Karachi's Bahadurabad.

MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar said while addressing the media that his party, JUI-F, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have decided to "free people of Sindh from the clutches of the PPP".

"We have decided not to let Sindh card work anymore. The JUI-F has the political force in rural Sindh, we will together remind the landlords and feudal of their times and beat the PPP's policy of hatred and nationalism," Sattar said.

He said that the allied parties would erase the misconception of the people in rural Sindh that they do not have an alternative leadership. "The new political alliance is ready to serve the people of Sindh." 

JUI-F's Soomro said that it has been agreed in the meeting that the three parties will not fight for any one ethnicity but will fight for everyone from Karachi to Kashmore.

He also called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to address the JUI-F, MQM-P and GDA's reservations on transfers, appointments and delimitation of constituencies.

"If the reservations are not removed, we will decide the future course of action together," he added.

It may be noted that all the political parties are now gearing up for the upcoming general elections in the country. However, the matter of elections has been plagued by the controversy surrounding the date and timing of the polls. 

With political circles divided on the time of polls, President Arif Alvi, a day earlier, had urged the chief election commissioner to hold the polls on November 6, 2023, a date that falls within the 90-day period since the dissolution of assemblies. 

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led (PML-N) coalition government dissolved the National Assembly on August 9 while the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies were also prematurely dissolved to allow the electoral authority to hold elections in the country within 90 days instead of 60 days if the legislature completed its constitutional tenure.

If the elections are to be held within the 90-day limit, then the polls are due on November 9, 2023.

However, before dissolving the assemblies the coalition government in a Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting had unanimously approved the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023.

According to Article 51 (5) of the Constitution, the seats of the National Assembly to each province and the federal capital shall be allocated on the basis of population as per the new census.

Following CCI's approval, the ECP on August 17 announced the schedule of new delimitations which exceeded the November 9th 90-day constitutional limit, almost making sure that the elections are likely to be held post the 90-day mark.

As per the schedule announced by the ECP:

• September 8 to October 7 — Delimitation of the constituencies to be held across the country.
• October 10 to November 8 — Proposals regarding constituencies to be submitted.
• September 5 to September 7 — A quota of constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies to be allocated.
• August 21 — Constituency committees of four provinces to be established.
• August 31 — Administrative matters related to the constituencies to be completed.
• November 10 to December 9 — ECP to decide on the objections to the constituencies.
• December 14 — Final publication of the delimitation.