27 candidates to contest PS-114 by-polls

Main contest to be between PPP, PTI and MQM-Pakistan

KARACHI: All eyes are on the PS-114 by-election being held tomorrow (Sunday). Political parties have turned the by-election into a fierce contest for supremacy, beginning campaigns before nomination papers were even filed.

The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court declared Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Irfanullah Marwat’s victory void.

Though around 27 candidates are in the field, the main contenders are Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Saeed Ghani, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Muhammad Najeeb Haroon and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - Pakistan’s Kamran Tessori.  PML-N has fielded Ali Akbar Gujjar, its provincial information secretary.



The contest has gained momentum, as various political parties and independent groups have pledged their support to the main contenders. The Awani National Party (ANP), Punjabi Pakhtoon Ittehad (PPI) and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) have extended their support to the PPP.  The Mohajir Qaumi Movement – Haqiqi led by Afaq Ahmed has expressed its support for its rival party MQM-Pakistan, while MQM-London has asked their supporters to boycott the by-poll. Meanwhile, Marwat pledged his support to the PTI.

“Of all the candidates I am the only native [of the area]. The rest of the contestants are imported in this constituency,” claimed Senator Ghani, who lives in Chanesar Goth, a Sindhi dominated area adjacent to Defence’s Phase-I.

Ghani’s father, Usman Ghani Khaskheli, was veteran trade union leader and senior PPP stalwart who was killed by unknown assassins in 1995 near Kala Pul. Ghani served twice as union council chairman and leader of the opposition in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) city council during General Pervez Musharaf’s tenure.

 



Though Haroon is a founding member of the PTI, he has spent most of his time abroad and currently lives in Defence. His critics say that party has ‘imported’ him in the constituency because he is one of the wealthiest persons in the party.

Similarly, Tessori, a gold trader by profession, started his political career with PML-Quaid and earned fame due to his tussle with then chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim in 2007. He later joined PML-Functional and recently joined MQM-Pakistan.

The competition in the by-polls has compelled the central leadership of many parties to visit the area, such as PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, senior vice-chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi and their ally Shaikh Rashid. Similarly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, along with his central leadership, visited the area and held a rally. PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira and Aitzaz Ahsan also visited the area.

MQM-Pakistan’s leaders, including convener Farooq Sattar, have spent most of their time in the constituency, garnering votes.