Shah is fielding his own candidate for the eagerly watched by-elections on the PS-21 seat in Naushero Feroze, which are scheduled for November 17. During a press conference on November 3, Shah had alleged that the PPP was using state machinery to rig the by-elections, and demanded that the elections take place under the army’s supervision. While attending a gathering of Sindhi intellectuals in Hyderabad on Sunday, the outspoken lawmaker had also criticised his own party for enacting the new local government law, and predicted that it will be forced to withdraw it ahead of the general elections.
PPP Sindh general secretary Taj Haider, federal minister Maula Bux Chandio and provincial information minister Shareel Memon met chief election commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and complained that MNA Shah and leaders of the National Peoples Party (NPP) had been threatening PPP voters ahead of the by-elections. They requested that the election commission deploy Rangers personnel during the elections. While talking to media personnel after his meeting with the chief election commissioner, Maula Bux Chandio said that Zafar Ali Shah should resign from the party. Taj Haider said that the government would follow the code of conduct that has been issued by the election commission.
Advocate G N Qureshi said that Haider had filed a complaint against MNA Zafar Ali Shah and the National Peoples Party’s Murtaza Jatoi for implying that the impartiality of the election commission had been maligned by the PPP.
Differences between Zafar Ali Shah and the PPP leadership came to the forefront after his younger brother, MPA Dr Ahmed Ali Shah, was forced to resign after the apex court gave its judgement in the dual nationality case.
Zafar Ali Shah was further angered when the PPP did not allot Ahmed Ali Shah’s seat to his family. The Shahs, who hail from Naushero Feroze, then decided to field their own candidate against the PPP in the Ps-21 by-elections, and claimed that the PPP had been winning the seat because of their influence in the constituency.
The PPP has nominated Naushero Feroze’s former taluka nazim , Sarfaraz Shah, as its candidate for the by-election. The NPP has nominated Abrar Shah for the seat, while Zafar Ali’s nephew, Zohaib Shah, is contesting the elections as an independent candidate.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2012.
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