{"id":59308,"date":"2024-02-12T19:18:42","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T19:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/irate-hafiz-naeem-gda-forfeit-sindh-assembly-seats-over-alleged-rigging\/"},"modified":"2024-02-12T19:18:42","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T19:18:42","slug":"irate-hafiz-naeem-gda-forfeit-sindh-assembly-seats-over-alleged-rigging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/irate-hafiz-naeem-gda-forfeit-sindh-assembly-seats-over-alleged-rigging\/","title":{"rendered":"Irate Hafiz Naeem, GDA forfeit Sindh Assembly seats over alleged rigging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) chief Pir Pagara on Monday forfeited Sindh Assembly seats won after the February 8 elections over alleged rigging.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1yMDi6QxVuUfrPyv9TJ695YPAnGCOHvVb\/view?usp=sharing\">provisional results<\/a> released by the Election Commission of Pakistan for the February 8 general elections, Naeem had won from the PS-129 constituency (Karachi Central VIII) with 26,296 votes.<\/p>\n<p>Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan\u2019s (MQM-P) Muaz Muqaddam was the runner-up with 20,296 votes.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, GDA candidates had prevailed from Khairpur\u2019s PS-31 and Sanghar\u2019s PS-40 constituency. The alliance received a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1812902\">serious dent<\/a> in rural areas where it even lost in its strongholds.<\/p>\n<p>The development comes a day after the JI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1813412\/pti-jamaat-protests-continue-in-karachi-against-rigging-in-elections\">staged sit-ins<\/a> at eight different key points in Karachi against alleged rigging in the polls.<\/p>\n<p>Hafiz Naeem had earlier stated that his party\u2019s and independent candidates had secured the majority of votes in Karachi\u2019s national and provincial assemblies constituencies but the MQM-P was being imposed on the city.<\/p>\n<p>The JI had also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1813144\">protested<\/a> outside the office of the Sindh election commission on Saturday, where it was joined by supporters of the PTI and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1811799\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Addressing a press conference in Karachi today, an irate Hafiz Naeem said, \u201cA PTI-backed independent candidate has won and I will not avail this seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I estimated that there was a difference of a few hundred votes, I asked my team for each and every Form [45]. When we checked, we found out that the ECP had shown fewer votes for us but as I did not succeed, I forfeit this seat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to claim that PTI-backed independent candidate Saif Bari had won according to his team\u2019s calculations, stating that his votes were \u201creduced to 11,000 from 31,000\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1yMDi6QxVuUfrPyv9TJ695YPAnGCOHvVb\/view?usp=sharing\">ECP<\/a>, Bari had gathered 11,357 votes.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate post on social media platform X, he said, \u201cTherefore, according to my conscience and the moral traditions of my party, I vacate my provincial assembly seat and demand that all seats we won be returned to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his media talk, Hafiz Naeem alleged that the votes cast for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) from PS-129 were inflated from 6,000 to 20,000.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also say to the workers of MQM-P that if God has shown you the right path and your conscience speaks, then come before the nation and announce that \u2018we have not won\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey faced the worst defeat \u2014 all of them including Mustafa Kamal,\u201d he said, vowing to bring forth \u201ceach and every vote to show the fraud that has been committed with the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The JI leader stated, \u201cI am forfeiting my seat and the seat which is ours should be given to us. We will challenge [the results of] the seats [where we know] we have won. We will not claim what we have lost\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling his vow to the public of not wanting \u201ceven a single additional vote\u201d, Hafiz Naeem said: \u201cPeople have voted for us and accepted our idea [<em>sic<\/em>]. The city of Karachi is with JI, and with me and my team which I consider an honour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[\u2026] this seat of mine is a slap on the election commission\u2019s face. We do not want this seat in charity. Give us our right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In an apparent reference to the MQM-P, Naeem said that candidates who garnered \u201c3,000 to 4,000 votes were being imposed\u201d on the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging that some may not consider his decision to be the right one, he said, \u201cEven if they have erased us, they can\u2019t erase us from people\u2019s hearts. We will fight for the people, democratically [and] hold peaceful demonstrations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The JI leader further said that the nation \u201cknew everything\u201d due to social media and a \u201cfake mandate\u201d could not be imposed on the people.<\/p>\n<p>He called for annulling the election results in Karachi and for holding the exercise afresh. Calling on Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to take notice of the rigging allegations, he asked, \u201cChief justice <em>sahib<\/em>, where should the people go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Separately, Pagara announced returning the GDA seats during a Karachi press conference after a party meeting. Criticising the polling exercise, he termed it an \u201canti-state election\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He issued a call for peaceful protests against the alleged electoral rigging with one at Hyderabad bypass on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>He said the party would also protest outside the Sindh Assembly and initiate contacts with other parties.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"pti-lauds-rehmans-decision\" href=\"#pti-lauds-rehmans-decision\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>PTI lauds Rehman\u2019s decision<\/h2>\n<p>Reacting to Rehman\u2019s decision, the PTI lauded him, saying that it expected \u201csimilar honesty\u201d from other candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no existence of democracy without transparency,\u201d it said in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p>PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra, who was a candidate for a provincial assembly seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said, \u201cAll we need is people like this for the country to progress. Well done!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further wrote: \u201cThe more people like deputy commissioner Afaq Wazir dig their heels to cover their illegalities in changing the results on eight Peshawar seats, the more they are criminally implicating themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Imtiaz Ali.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) chief Pir Pagara on Monday forfeited Sindh Assembly seats won after the February 8 elections over alleged rigging. According to the provisional results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan for the February 8 general elections, Naeem had won from the PS-129 constituency [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/02\/1222060111d8333.jpg?r=223002","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}