Bickering for seats: As LG elections draw closer, fissures emerge within the PPP

Lyari leadership unhappy with Karachi division president over allocation of seats

KARACHI: With the local government elections around the corner, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) seems to be going through its worst phase in history as differences among the leadership continue to create fissures within the party.

This time, seat allotments in the local government elections seem to have become the bone of contention among leaders of the party's Karachi division and its Lyari chapter. The recent war of words between the leaders of the two divisions has prompted the residents of Lyari to demand the resignation of Najmi Alam, who heads the Karachi division.

"The conspirators in our party should reconsider their decision of pushing diehard workers against the wall, otherwise the jiyalis of Lyari will rise against them," said PPP MPA Javed Nagori, adding that efforts were being made to remove Lyari from the Karachi division, but they would foil the conspiracy.

Taking an aggressive stance against the PPP Karachi division president, Nagori, who also happens to be the provincial minister for katchi abadis, said: ""He lives in Defence and had once won the union council elections, but has unfortunately been appointed the Karachi division president. The post should have gone to Lyari from where the party always sweeps the elections," he said. Nagori also serves as the party's secretary-general for District South.

Sources in the PPP told The Express Tribune that Nagori has come down hard on the Karachi division leadership after he and other local leaders hailing from Lyari were not taken into confidence regarding the decision to allot seats to candidates of 15 union committees of the area for local government elections. "Some seats were given to people from the Kutchi community, who are said to be arch-rivals of the Baloch in Lyari," said a PPP leader. "This has irked Javed Nagori and others who have now stood up against the Karachi division president," sources in PPP said.

On the other hand, Habib Hassan, a senior leader of the party from Lyari, said: "Besides the seat allotment for LG elections, there are other issues that have prompted our people to argue seemingly because Lyari has been neglected," he explained. "The government had announced a Rs4 billion package for Lyari in 2008, but all mega-schemes are still left unfinished," he said. "It has been a norm that one important party position, either the president or the secretary-general, is given to Lyari or Malir. This time, however, they have neglected the people of both the areas."

When contacted, the Karachi division President Najmi Alam refused to comment on the issue. Meanwhile, Latif Mughul, the information secretary of the Karachi chapter refuted reports of differences in the party. "All the grievances expressed by Nagori and others will be addressed. The PPP is a democratic party where everybody has right to raise their concern, which is why people speak and give their viewpoints without any fear," he said. Mughul added the tug-of-war was for the coveted post the secretary-general of Karachi division, which has been lying vacant for some time. He added that the two groups were using pressure tactics to get the post.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.