PS-11 in Larkana witnesses close contest between PTI, PPP

The by-election is all the more important for PPP as Larkana is considered a stronghold of the Bhuttos

HYDERABAD: Although a close contest was witnessed on Thursday in the by-election on PS-11 constituency in Larkana, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), despite straining to the utmost to regain its stronghold, seemed to be floundering. The initial and unconfirmed results from 67 polling stations, out of 138 in the Sindh Assembly’s constituency, put the PPP’s Jamil Soomro trailing behind his opponent, Moazzam Ali Khan Abbassi. According to the results from 116 polling stations, Abbassi had polled 26,184 votes against 21,649 votes secured by Soomro.

Abbassi, who is trying to retain the constituency which elected him in the 2018 general elections, is a joint candidate of Grand Democratic Alliance, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and some other political parties besides the Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI). Even the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lent its electoral support to Abbassi despite a formal remonstrance by PPP’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Polling underway for PS-11 Larkana by-elections

The seat had fallen vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified Abbassi, who was elected as MPA on the GDA’s ticket, for failing to declare his assets. Bilawal spent five days in Larkana to ramp up support for the party’s candidate and his political secretary, Soomro, whose electoral defeat will deal a blow to the party’s chairman in a city known to be a fortress of the Bhuttos.

It will also entail a disappointment for the young leader who for the first time oversaw an election campaign in the absence of his father, Asif Ali Zardari — former president and PPP’s co-chairman who is in custody of the National Accountability Bureau — and aunt, Faryal Talpur.



As many as 152,614 people, including 83,106 male and 69,598 female, were registered to vote in PS-11. Among the 15 union councils of Larkana Municipal Corporation in the constituency,  Larkana Awami Ittehad had won four and JUI-F one in local government elections.

The polling started late at some of the polling stations but the process remained largely smooth. Around 40% of voters turned out to vote amid tight security with the deployment of Rangers and police personnel. The presence of Rangers personnel irked Bilawal who tweeted that the law enforcement agency meddled in the polling process. “If Rangers have been deployed for safety why are they interfering in the polling process, checking voters’ slips, harassing voters, agents and candidates?” he wrote on Twitter.

GDA win in Larkana shocks PPP

The PPP’s election candidate also decried the ‘unfair’ polling process and took his complaints to the district returning officer (DRO) but he was not allowed to enter the office. In reaction, Soomro and the PPP workers staged a sit-in protest outside the DRO office in the evening. “We won’t allow our mandate to be stolen,” said Soomro, while talking to the media. He alleged that the polling staff, belonging to a particular government department, has been seen rigging the process.

Soomro maintained that the presiding officers at the polling stations are not issuing Form 45 to the polling agents, expressing fear that the result may be changed. Meanwhile, the DRO, in a statement issued after a meeting with Soomro, said the presiding officers have unequivocally been directed to issue the Form 45 to the polling agents of the candidates.

Meanwhile, PTI Sindh’s leader MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh alleged that Bilawal violated the code of conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan by taking part in Soomro’s campaign. “The people of Larkana are no longer with the PPP which felt compelled to land its entire leadership in the city to make a failed effort to win the by-poll,” said Sheikh at a press conference. He blamed the PPP for giving the gifts of HIV and AIDS to the people of Larkana.

ECP issues notice to Bilawal for violating election rules

When Bilawal announced candidatures of Soomro for PS-11, the local analysts reacted with surprise, predicting an electoral defeat for the PPP. Before joining the PPP, Soomro was associated with Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto who heads the Sindh National Front.

The PPP’s party structure at the district level was also recently shaken by Bilawal who dissolved the office bearers and appointed an organising committee for restructuring the party. The party also faced mounting criticism over poor infrastructure facilities in Larkana on whose development the Sindh government claims to have spent tens of billions of rupees.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2019.