Know your candidates: Pledging to serve you

All have promised to address issues faced by the people of the constituency and sincerely represent their voters in NA

If the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is successful in securing your votes and wins the by-polls on April 23, we pledge to the residents of Karachi to sincerely and whole heartedly represent their interests in the National Assembly and other forums. Our top priority will be to establish a peaceful environment in the city by working closely with various law enforcement agencies so that the citizens and the business community can feel safe. The provision of a peaceful and secure environment to the business community will lead to enhanced investment and thus, job creation in Karachi. We will work with various communities to improve local policing to counter crimes. We will strive to introduce and implement the much-needed police reforms to depoliticise, modernise and localise the police force in Karachi.

We pledge to support a strong local government system that devolves maximum power to Karachi. We believe that the mayor of Karachi should be directly elected by its people.

Despite being the third-largest city in the world, Karachi lacks a mass transit system. This is desperately needed by low-income residents and to reduce traffic and pollution. We pledge to revive the Karachi Circular Railway project on war-footing basis.

Karachi is facing a water crisis and needs to improve the water supply due to the growing population.  In immediate terms, we will improve the infrastructure by replacing outdated machinery and pipelines. We will also take on the tanker and hydrant mafia throughout the city. We pledge to take strict action against all politically-sponsored encroachments throughout Karachi.

We believe the greatest asset of Pakistan is its people and pledge to implement a human development plan as follows:

• We will work with all stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors to develop affordable housing projects throughout Karachi.

• In the field of education, we will try to improve the existing government schools at the primary and secondary levels in the constituency in terms of physical infrastructure and teacher training.

• Clean drinking water is a basic human right and a requirement for good health.  We pledge to build water filtration plants throughout the city.

• We will establish basic health care units with emphasis on preventive health care.

• We will work with various levels of government to improve sanitation through better sewerage and drainage schemes.  In addition, we will improve the collection and disposal of solid waste and introduce a recycling programme.

One of the fundamentals of democracy is to serve the people. The Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah aptly described the objective of government as follows: “The government can only have one objective – how to serve the people, how to devise ways and means for their welfare, for their betterment. What other objective can the government have?”  We believe our pledge to the people of Karachi will be a humble step to turn the Quaid’s objective of government a reality.  

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has always represented the middle-class segment of Karachi in the parliament. If elected, I will work in line with my party’s policies to address the social issues faced by the citizens.

I have served as a member of the National Assembly from Hyderabad in 1990 and was elected as member of the Sindh Assembly in 2002. I was also elected as Hyderabad mayor in the local government elections and successfully completed many projects during my tenure, including major flyovers, roads and cleanliness campaigns in Hyderabad.

My party, MQM, has a strong history of tabling major bills in the parliament. These include the Land Reforms Bill, the De-Weaponisation Bill, Minority Rights Bills, and Women Protection Bill.

Being a liberal and progressive political party, MQM stands for equal rights and fair opportunities for all segments of society, regardless of their religious and political affiliations. The MQM strongly believes that women are an integral part of the society and women empowerment will be of huge benefit to society. The MQM has also been on the forefront in the fight against extremism and terrorism in the country. It has lost four of its sitting lawmakers and hundreds of workers to extremism because of its principled stance against the menace in society.

Our chief, Altaf Hussain, who himself came from a humble background, founded the MQM because he believed that a true democratic political party would be better able to understand the problems of common man, which is why the MQM has a strong belief in the democratic process. It firmly believes that grass-roots democratic structures will strengthen democracy in Pakistan. If elected, I will stay committed to my party’s manifesto.



If elected, I will ensure that every household in the constituency gets its due share of potable water. I will also play my role to end the crippling electricity load-shedding in the area.

Another sector I will work for is the removal of all encroachments from amenity plots in the constituency, including those amenity plots that have been grabbed by political groups. At least one university, a huge library and a 500-bed hospital, along with a teaching college will be established in the limits of NA-246 to benefit the residents. I will ensure the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway for the benefit of the whole city and for the establishment of the bus rapid transport system, especially for the people of my constituency. All students will only pay half the fare in public transport vehicles.

I assure you that I will raise a strong voice in the assembly to end police excesses, VIP culture and other forms of social injustices.

Last but not least, my top priority will be to bring Aafia Siddiqui home. Others have scored points in her name through their political rhetoric but I will earnestly work to bring her home. She is not a criminal. She does not belong where she is.



If the people of NA-246 entrust the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) with their votes on April 23, we pledge to the citizens that we will sincerely and wholeheartedly represent their interests in the National Assembly.

The JI has been working tirelessly towards the image-building of Karachi city and we will continue to do so. The MQM is not the sole owner and representative of the city. The JI has always represented Karachi and spoken for its cause across Pakistan.

Karachi is a metropolitan city and comprises a population from all groups and sects. Such is the following of the JI. The representative of NA-246 should be the one who can represent this great city.

My party has done a lot of good work in this constituency and will keep doing so. We have made hospitals, parks, schools, technical centres and institutes teaching the Quran and Sunnah.

I promise the citizens of Karachi that the JI will work with full force towards establishing a peaceful environment for the common man, the business community and all the stakeholders of the city. We will de-weaponise the city.

Compiled by: Tuba Athar; data source: Election Commission of Pakistan 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2015.