KARACHI: The Jamaat-iIslami and Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf on Tuesday threatened to stage a sit-in outside the offices of the Election Commission of Pakistan if their demand for the deployment of army and Rangers personnel in and outside the polling booths was not met.

Speaking at a press conference, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and Ali Zaidi, the city chiefs of the JI and PTI, respectively, alleged that workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were being posted as presidingand assistant presiding officers to turn the Dec 5 local government election into a `selection`.

Mr Rehman of the JI said that the elections were being conducted on the very same voters` lists that had been declared flawed by the apex court.

He appealed to the people to come out of their home on Dec 5 in maximum numbers to foil the conspiracy to rig the elections.

PTPs Zaidi said on the occasion: `We would only accept the local government elections results if the polling process will remain crystal clear.

PTI leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi highlighted the salient fea-tures of the joint election manifesto of the two parties.

`The first and important objective is to create a peaceful and harmonious environment in Karachi. All the broken and dysfunctional bodies and agencies will be institutionalized,` he said, adding: `We will work towards gaining more autonomy and power for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation just like any other metropolitan corporation in the world. Without empowerment of the KMC, the major issues of Karachi cannot be tackled effectively.

He said that the first priority was to address the water issueand the PTI-JI alliance would immediately implement the K-IV and K-V projects on a war-footing basis. `We will work with the private sector to improve public transportation in Karachi.

He said that the two parties would introduce separate public transport vehicles in which the driver and conductor would be women.

`We would impose a ban on dowry and the city councils would be responsible for monitoring and enforcement of the ban.

A dispute resolution centre for domestic disputes would be established in each union committee,` he added.