PPP snatches back Malir after 12 years

KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday regained its old constituency by winning the Sindh Assembly PS-127 (Malir) after a long period of 12 years, in a by-election marred by violence, allegations of unfairness and voter apathy.

The PPP defeated the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The seat fell vacant after Ashfaq Mangi defected to the Pak Sarzameen Party led by former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal.

According to unofficial results, PPP candidate Murtaza Baloch secured 22,187 votes. His close rival MQM’s Waseem Ahmed managed 15,553 votes while PTI’s Nadeem Memon secured only 5,580. There were 134 polling stations in total. According to presiding officers, the turnout remained 21%. There were 207,467 registered votes.

The election result was significant because of two counts: it shows MQM founder Altaf Hussain’s floundering popularity after his seditious statements last month, and the fact that PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Pak Sarzameen Party’s Mustafa Kamal and almost all leaders of the MQM-Pakistan campaigned aggressively.

Soon after the announcement of the result, PPP leadership and workers erupted into jubilation. From Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, they exchanged victory messages.

However, MQM-Pakistan leader Dr Farooq Sattar expressed reservations, alleging that his party had not been given the results of 14 polling stations. He claimed that the MQM-Pakistan’s candidate was maintaining a lead of 9,500 votes over his rival candidate in 82 polling stations.

“Going by the election result, this translates into the MQM-Pakistan candidate bagging 1,500 votes from 52 polling stations while the PPP got 16,000 votes.”

“The election has been rigged,” MQM-Pakistan leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan, who is the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, said.

Meanwhile, the by-election in PS-127 (Malir) was marred by violence and clashes between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Muhajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) on Thursday.

Six vehicles – five buses and a truck – were set on fire by unidentified persons across the city late Wednesday night and after the polling ended.

Scuffles between the activists of the MQM-Pakistan and the MQM-H continued throughout the day. The clashes began with the commencement of polling in the morning.

Commenting on the overall situation, Malir SSP Rao Anwar said that 85 out of 134 polling stations fell within his jurisdiction.

“Six people have been arrested by the Malir police for creating disturbances and 13 motorcycles have been confiscated,” he claimed, adding, “They will be dealt with according to the law.”

The Korangi police also arrested three people on similar charges while the Rangers nabbed a woman from Memon Goth for allegedly casting a fake vote.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.