Jamaat urges November referendum for ‘experience’ and to ‘avoid election chaos’

The Jamaat-e-Islami has pressed the Election Commission to hold the referendum on the July National Charter in November, arguing that it would both help the authorities gain electoral “experience” and avoid potential “chaos” if held alongside the parliamentary election. The Islamist party presented the arguments during a three-hour meeting with the EC at its Agargaon headquarters on Monday. Jamaat’s deputy chief Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher later said the party believes holding the referendum before the national polls would be more “practical and efficient”. “In the past, referendums have been held even within 10 to 21 days. If problems occur during the election, the referendum may become uncertain. Then we lose both the ‘mango and its skin’. “So we think the...