PS-106, PS-117: MQM set to regain lost glory

Party's former MPAs had resigned to join Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party

KARACHI: A new entrant into the fold of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is likely to clinch the PS-106 seat while a supporter and brother of a party 'martyr' seems to be the probable winner from PS-117 in Thursday's by-elections.

The two seats of the Sindh Assembly were vacated after MQM lawmakers Dr Sagheer Ahmed and Iftikhar Alam quit the party and joined Mustafa Kamal's Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP). The seats have regularly been clinched by MQM members for the last twenty eight years. Along with the MQM, mainstream parties such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with religious parties such as Pasban and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam are also contesting the elections. On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi and Jamaat-e-Islami have opted to stay out of the contest.



Low participation

Voter turnout is expected to be low, as has been the case with recent by-polls in the city. Human rights activist Abdul Hai, who along with his team has been monitoring previous elections, believes Thursday's by-polls would be transparent and violent-free.

"Because there's a list with pictures of voters, there is now a transparency in the whole process," he said. He also feels that the turnout would be low as people do not come out to vote during by-elections and there is also less enthusiasm among the voters.

PS-106

The MQM's home seat of Liaquatabad was last occupied by Alam, who had bagged over 75,000 votes in the 2013 general elections. The runner up was PTI's Sultan Ahmed.

In March, Alam left the MQM and resigned from the provincial assembly to join PSP. The constituency includes Azizabad, Bingoria Goth, Al Azam Square, FC Area and Liaquatabad. There are 14 candidates in the run, including four from MQM, PTI, PPP, Pasban while the rest are independents.



A total of 100 polling stations have been set up for the 176, 395 registered voters, of which 99,194 are men and 77,201 are women.

The MQM's candidate is Mahfooz Yar Khan, a lawyer who joined the party a year ago. He was previously in the Awami Muslim League and had withdrawn in favour of MQM's Kunwar Naveed for NA-246's by-election last year.

A party leader said the reason for nominating Khan was his withdrawal in favour of Naveed. PTI has given the party ticket to Nusrat Anwaar, while Sardar Abdul Samad Gabol is the PPP's candidate.

PS-117

Covering PIB colony and other areas such as Jamshed Quarters, Soldier Bazaar, Martin Quarters, Patel Para, this constituency is also considered an MQM stronghold.

Interestingly, the seat was twice bagged by Ahmed in 2013 and 2008 while in 2002, Kamal had clinched it.

Both are now MQM critics from the platform of the PSP.

There are ten candidates contesting the by-elections, which include MQM's Qamar Abbas, PTI's Rafaqat Umer, PPP's Jawad Maqbool Butt, Syed Naeem Shah of JUI, Ali Raza of Tehreek-e-Islami, Ziaur Rehman from Pasban, and four independent candidates.

Contest for the sake of contest

MQM leader and Karachi's mayor nominee Waseem Akhtar said they see it as a one-sided affair. "The campaign has been successful. While we had no problem from the law enforcement agencies in holding rallies, the raids and arrests of our workers continue," he claimed.

Akhtar added that they hope the elections would be free and impartial. PTI MPA Khurram Sherzaman said they had opted for a mild campaign instead of 'shor sharaba'. "Last year in the NA-246 elections, our workers were beaten up and we wanted to avoid it this time," he said, explaining that they are giving a message to the people by contesting the by-polls, even if they lose.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2016.