Electioneering gathers pace: PML-Q announces NA, PA aspirants from Sindh

Nine people have applied for NA seats and 38 are hoping to get a go-ahead for PA seats.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) became the first political party in Sindh to announce its candidates on provincial and national assembly seats.

In total, nine candidates applied for National Assembly seats while there were 38 candidates for Sindh Assembly seats. During the press briefing at PML House on Monday, party president Chaudhry Shujjat Hussain authorised the provincial leadership to finalise the list.

"The reconciliation policy with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will continue," said PML-Q general secretary Mushahid Hussain Syed. "We don't care if someone joins another political party. Ours is a bigger party," he replied when asked about asked about the recent joining of PPP by a party's provincial leader.

Hussain said, however, that they will contact the PPP leadership and lodge their protest for trying to influence PML-Q's leaders in Sindh. Syed said that political parties should respect each other's mandate.

"We don't influence other party's members and expect that other parties will also not try to influence our party leaders," he added.

Parveen Marri, mother of Shazia Marri, also joined PML-Q on the occasion. The party was confident that more people will join in the coming days. "Our party is aware of the needs of small provinces," said Syed. "Our future is bright."

Syed didn't rule out a seat-to-seat adjustment with the PPP, adding that his party leadership will also enter into talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movment on seat adjustment in Karachi.

Of the 38 provincial assembly seat aspirants, 14 will contest from Karachi's different constituencies. Haleem Adil Sheikh, the party's provincial president, will contest from PS-129, Karachi. The list issued by PML-Q showed that the party has candidates in Sukkur, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Naushehro Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Dadu, Sanghar and Thatta.

On National Assembly seats, Liaquat Ali Qureshi from NA-198 Sukkur, Dr Ghulam Raza Channa from NA-201 Ghotki, Inayat Hussain Wagan from NA-211 Naushehro Feroze, Raees Ghulam Sarwar Siyal from NA-204 Larkana, Abdul Latif Abro from NA-221, Haji Islam Qureshi from NA-234 Sanghar, Ghulam Rasool Shoro from NA-237 Thatta, Mubeen Pirzado from NA-257 Karachi and Seemi Siddiqi from NA-258 Karachi will contest on PML-Q tickets.