Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has once again reiterated his stance that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), being the single largest party that emerged in local bodies elections in Karachi, will take over the slot of the Mayor despite the “cries and claims of a self-claimant”.
He made these remarks while talking to the media persons at the KMC Mega Sports event organized at Fuwara Chowk. Sindh Governor Mohammed Kamran Khan Tessori, Minister Information Sharjeel Inam Memon, Advisor law Murtaza Wahab and others were also present on the occasion. Replying to a question, The CM said it was loud and clear that PPP would bag the slot of Mayor in Karachi.
“We [the PPP] are a majority party and our candidate for the slot of mayor would easily be elected by the KMC council,” he said and giving an oblique reference to Jamaat Islami’s Candidate Naeem Rehman, added that his cries, claims, and allegations have no foundation and would prove to be the bubbles of hot air.
The CM urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to expedite the process of conducting the election on the local bodies’ seats where it had been postponed and declare the results of the seats which have been challenged or withheld so that the final round of election for the seats of chairmen and mayors could be finalized.
Talking about the census, Murad Ali Shah said that the objections his government and the party had raised during the census of 2017 have proved to be valid and genuine now. He said that if the reservations raised by the people of the province were not addressed, his government would have no option but to withdraw the support it has extended to the Bureau of Statistics for conducting the ongoing census process.
Murad Ali Shah said that he has urged the census authorities to share a copy of the data/enumeration of a family with the concerned family members. “We must know how many members of a family in a particular area have been counted so that cross-check can be made, and the claim can be filed in case of any inaccuracy,” he said and added the provincial government must have access to the data of the province.
Murad Ali Shah said that the data being collected by the Bureau of Census should be given directly to NADRA so that they can issue CNIC/B-forms to the nationals and also make data on the foreigners living here. “We want them to count everyone and share the copy, hard or digital, with the concerned family members and also give access to the concerned family and provincial government to the data being collected on a regular basis. If a transparent system is not evolved or adopted the ongoing census exercises would meet the same fate as in 2017,” he observed.
The Sindh CM said: “We would have to make a proper system of birth and death counts accurately. When a child is born or dies, his/her details must enter into the family tree made in the national data developed at NADRA. Currently, the deaths and births were not recorded in the national data until and unless the concerned family members get them recorded.”
Murad Shah pointed out that the old or inaccurate maps have been uploaded to the tablets given to the enumerators for recording enumeration digitally. “These maps and data must be accurate, proper, and latest,” he demanded. The CM also demanded the Bureau of Statistics to inform the enumerated families/persons through SMS that they have been counted and their family members’ number stands at so and so. Earlier, Sindh CM congratulated the winners of the KMC mega spots donkey cart race and distributed prizes among them.
