Party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui says it was not a bad deal n Farooq Sattar says country heading towards civil disobedience n Concerned over protests against high electricity tariffs.

KARACHI  -  Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Dr Khalid Ma­qbool Siddiqui said Sun­day that general elec­tions should be held following fresh delimi­tations in line with the census 2023.

“Although Karachi is in need of transparent elections at the earli­est, if the delimitation of constituencies took weeks or months, it is not a bad deal,” the MQM-convener said while addressing the presser alongside party leader Farooq Sattar.

The MQM-P convener said that in the previ­ous elections, "fake rep­resentatives were im­posed" on the city.

"No one else was de­prived of their right to representation the way we were," he said, add­ing that Karachi is the city that needs the ear­liest elections.

However, he added that the elections need­ed to be fair, transparent, impartial, and acceptable to all. "Who are these people who are empha­sising on old constituen­cies instead of new con­stituencies?" he asked.

He added that millions of new voters have been registered in the new census, adding that de­limitation of new constit­uencies inevitable after the new census. Based on the most recent cen­sus, it was determined that Karachi should antici­pate an increase of approx­imately four seats in the provincial assembly and one seat in the National Assembly. However, contin­gent upon whether the con­stituencies’ delimitation is executed at a divisional or district level, these figures could vary. If the delimita­tion was carried out at the divisional level, Karachi’s provincial assembly seats could increase by four and one of the National Assem­bly. Conversely, if delimita­tion occurs at the district level, Karachi could gain an additional three provincial assembly seats and one of the National Assembly. The National Census report, re­leased by the Pakistan Bu­reau of Statistics on August 6, indicated that Karachi holds a share of 22.23 per­cent in the provincial as­sembly and 47.57 percent in the National Assembly seats. In addition, the re­port revealed that one Na­tional Assembly seat from Shaheed Benazirabad, and two provincial assembly seats from Hyderabad, one each from Sukkur and Larkana would be reallocated to Karachi. In District South, two seats, including one seat of the provincial assembly and one of the National As­sembly would be shifted, with the remaining three seats each in districts Central, East, and Malir.