KARACHI: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) on Saturday vowed to regain its electoral mandate from Karachi it had won in 2002.

MMA Karachi president Hafiz Naeemur Rehman told a press conference here that a public meeting of the alliance would be held in Bagh-i-Jinnah on Sunday which would prove that the masses in this metropolis would vote for religious parties.

He said the public meeting would be addressed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl president Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq and other senior leaders of the parties. He claimed the people of Karachi had given an overwhelming response to MMA’s ongoing election campaign.

“In 2002, MMA had won five National Assembly seats despite the fact that the administrative arrangements were not in favour of the alliance and there was strong resistance from different quarters against the religious parties’ alliance,” he said.

“We are sure of better results in the upcoming election in this metropolis considering its people’s response after they have already tested all parties and suffered a lot at their hands over the last 10 years. They know that only an honest and bold leadership can get their problems solved.”

Hafiz Naeem questioned the discreet silence of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over the “violation of its code of conduct” by the parties that ruled over the country and provinces in the past, claiming that these parties were spending millions of rupees in their publicity campaigns supported by advertisements on private TV channels.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018