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Sweeping majority of people who participated in a referendum held privately in Karachi voted in favour of an empowered metropolitan government which could resolve grievances of the provincial capital as they are expected of.
The Jamaat e Islami Pakistan (JIP) organized earlier a referendum under its campaign to safeguard due civic rights for people as enshrined in the constitution.
Voting for the referendum was through physical and online balloting, both, for six days consecutively, in order to cover each area in Karachi.
The party formed a 13-member independent commission comprising renowned city people hailing from different walks of life to monitor the entire exercise.
The results confirmed 77.4 per cent turn out of voters out of 9.5 million total ballot papers issued for the purpose of physical balloting in the referendum.
Out of these participants who cast their votes physically, 98.6 per cent voted in ‘Yes’ responding to the questions framed for the polling.
While around 850,000 participants in virtual voting which make up to 99 per cent, voted in ‘Yes’.
The questions were:
- Empowered metropolitan government in the city,
- Ending of quota system in government jobs to promote merit.
- An honest census exercise for a properly head count in Karachi, and,
- Provision of basic facilities such as of mass commute system; solid waste management; drainage; education, and health facilities in the city in accordance with the international standards.
The people also voted in favor of conducting an independent forensic audit of the privatized and only power utility of Karachi the “K-Electric” to ascertain its performance during the past 15 years.
