Imran’s deputy leads his campaign in capital

Zulfi Bukhari claims former interior minister placed his name on ECL out of spite

ISLAMABAD: The national assembly constituency of NA-53 is a crucial one for most parties, with a staggering 36 candidates vying for it.

It is particularly important for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for whom it is his ‘home’ constituency — given that his palatial Bani Gala mansion is located in it. It also houses one of his main opponents in it, former prime minister and a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

But even as the former cricketer-turned-politician hopes to march into the parliament by bagging the seat from the capital, hoisting the burden of a nationwide campaign means he has delegated the task to his close aide, Zulfi Bukhari.



Bukhari has been in the news recently after an episode last month when he was stopped from travelling to Saudi Arabia along with Imran to perform Umra.

As they attempted to travel, Bukhari found out that his name was placed on the no-fly list. However, the matter was quickly resolved with an alleged phone call to the caretaker interior minister who swiftly lifted Bukhari’s name off the list in a ‘one-time exception’.

Back in the country and with his name erased from the Exit Control List (ECL) by the courts, Bukhari has turned his attention to more pressing matters, making sure that his fellow pilgrim is elected to the parliament.

“I am in-charge of the election campaign only because of my expertise in administrative affairs,” he explained to Daily Express, adding, “I have no political ambitions.”

He added that he will try and work with local PTI leaders and workers and take them all along in the campaign for the greater benefit of the party’s success in NA-53.

Campaign in absentia

Explaining Imran’s absence from his ‘home ground’ where he has so far addressed a youth convention and is scheduled to address a rally on July 23, Bukhari said that the PTI chief has to campaign across the country in less than three weeks, hence it was not possible for him to be present in the constituency to actively campaign.

However, he claimed that under him, the election campaigns in NA-53 were in full swing and he was going door-to-door to make sure that the people receive the party’s message.

Apart from campaigning in the urban areas, Bukhari claimed that they will be trying to bring Imran’s message to the residents of the rural areas of the capital as well.

He hoped that after winning the election from NA-53, Imran will not relinquish his seat — since he has also made that promise to the residents of NA-243 Karachi — and help resolve the issues facing Islamabad as well as reform all the institutions so they can be self-sustainable.

Local issues

Bukhari says that the combination of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PML-N, who ruled the federal capital during their respective tenures of government, have left the capital of the country in tatters.

Once the PTI is in power, Bukhari said that it will work to resolve Islamabad’s water crisis, reform the education and healthcare structures of the city — including construction of additional hospitals, reforming the municipal structure, providing solutions to the problems facing government employees and create employment.

He added that the PTI will work to protect the rights of residents of the city.

Noting that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had virtually occupied the lands of indigenous people through Section 4, Bukhari said that if elected, the party will work to do away with the law.

After striking off Section 4, he said that the party will help create model villages where sections cannot be created.

He promised that the party will soon release a two-part plan for Islamabad. One part of it will be based on including Imran Khan’s 11-points and the second will offer solutions for the problems facing the city.

Travel discrepancy

Addressing the controversy surrounding his travel to Saudi Arabia under mysterious circumstances, Bukhari claimed that his name was never on the ECL nor was blacklisted.

“The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did forward my name to the previous government’s federal cabinet for approval, but it was rejected,” Bukhari claimed.

He added that there were more than 450 people who had been named in the Panama Papers, but their names were not placed on the ECL nor were they blacklisted.

“How can my name be blacklisted, despite being a foreign national?” Bukhari asked.



He went on to state that after leaving Pakistan following a one-time exemption from the interior ministry, he could have decided not to return, but he did not do so.

“I opted to come back and contact the courts and was cleared,” Bukhari said, adding, “I am very disappointed at my name being placed in the no-fly list.

He alleged that it was former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal who had placed his name on the blacklist out of spite.

Bukhari lamented that once again, the ECL was being used for political victimisation.

“Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had excluded several names from the ECL which were being used for political victimization and the list shrunk massively from 35,000 to just a few thousand.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2018.