JI Karachi’s President Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has announced protests against the PPP’s alleged rigging in the Karachi mayor’s elections.

“From today, I am announcing a new phase in the Haq Do Karachi Ko Tehreek. We will expose you [PPP] through peaceful protest and in courts for robbing the JI of its mandate in the LG elections,” he said at a party rally in Karachi on Friday.

Karachi’s local body representatives elected PPP’s Murtaza Wahab as the city’s mayor on Thursday. But the JI rejected the results and accused the Sindh-ruling party of rigging. The party observed “Black Day” on Friday in protest.

Rehman claimed that the ECP played the role of the PPP’s B-team, asserting he would not accept this result.

The political environment heated up after dozens of PTI UC chairmen announced on June 13 not to vote for the JI candidate for the coveted slot of mayor. The decision was made despite the PTI chief’s endorsement of the JI’s candidate.

“We will raise this case in the ECP. The PPP will lose if the commission upholds its duty and serve justice. If not, we will go to the court against this fascism,” Rehman said.

“The PPP has been ruling in Sindh for 15 years. They have not done anything for the province and Karachi. They reduced the population numbers in the recent census in order to usurp the rights of the people living in the mega city,” he added.

On Thursday, JI’s Ameer Sirajul Haq alleged that PPP leader Murtaza Wahab’s election as mayor was clear proof of the connivance of the Sindh government and the ECP.

In a tweet, he said: “Abduction of the elected representatives, purchase of votes, rigging and use of force in Karachi’s Mayor election is a question mark on the performance of Election Commission and democracy.”

The Sindh government and the ECP have played the role of a supportive institution in Karachi’s mayoral election which was condemnable, he alleged adding that the country’s top electoral authority has lost its credibility for the general elections in the country.