New elections, same old faces as PPP awards tickets to kith and kin of feudal elite

Names of remaining candidates are expected to be announced soon

KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has awarded party tickets to old faces, mostly kith and kin who have been contesting polls for years, to contest the national and provincial elections from Sindh.

According to list released by Bilawal House on Sunday, the majority of candidates awarded tickets hail from old, feudal families who have been part of politics for decades. The party has so far finalised the names of around 160 candidates, while the names for the remaining tickets are expected to be announced later today.

Reports suggested that five direct members of the Zardari family are expected to contest the upcoming general elections. PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will stand for two National Assembly seats, NA 246 (Lyari) and NA 200 (Larkana I). PPP Co-chairperson and Bilawal's father, Asif Ali Zardari, will contest polls from NA 213 (Shaheed Benazirabad-I). Senior PPP leader Faryal Talpur, who is Asif Zardari's sister, will stand for PS 10 (Larkana I). Azra Pechuho, also a sister of Asif Ali Zardari, will contest from PS-37 (Shaheed Benazirabad-I).



Some of the other prominent names featured on the list include former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who is now eighty-four years old, and has been contesting polls since the Pakistan Peoples Party was founded back in 1967. Shah will contest polls from his hometown of PS 26 (Khairpur II), while his daughter, Nafisa Shah, already a member of the National Assembly on a reserved seat, will now contest elections from NA 208.

Manzoor Wasan, who hails from Khairpur, has also been awarded a ticket. Wasan is a veteran politician who has been contesting elections since 1988. His nephew, Nawaz Wasan, will stand for the provincial assembly seat PS 32 (Khairpur VII).

The Talpur family have been given tickets as well. The family has been part of the PPP for a long time and clan chief Nawab Yousuf Talpur has been awarded a PPP ticket for NA 220. His son, Nawaz Taimoor Talpur, will stand for provincial assembly seat PS 53. .

Syed Ali Mardan Shah, who has been winning his seat from Umerkot regularly, has been awarded the ticket for PS 52, while his nephew and son in law Syed Sardar Ali Shah will contest from PS 51 (Umerkot).

Former opposition leader in National Assembly Khursheed Shah will contest national elections again, but he has also successfully lobbied to obtain a ticket to a provincial assembly seat, PS 23 (Sukkur II), for his son-in-law Syed Owais Qadir Shah.



Makhdoom family of Hala is also a beneficiary of PPP policy. The party has succumbed to threats by the Makhdoom family to leave the PPP, and awarded tickets to Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman, Makhdoom Mehbooduz Zaman and Makhdoom Rafiquuz Zaman to contest the upcoming polls.

According to reports, former MNA and federal health minister Mir Aijaz Jakhrani, who belongs to Jacoabad district, not only secured a ticket for NA 196, but his cousin and former transport minister Mir Mumtaz Jakhrani has also been awarded provincial assembly seat PS 3 (Jacobabad). Nisar Khuhro will also contest elections.