Qureshi violating electoral rules, complains PPP

Foreign minister urged followers to vote for Arbab Ghulam Rahim in PS-52 by-polls

KARACHI: Terming Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s address to an electoral rally in Sonpur for the Umerkot by-polls a ‘violation’ of rules, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of the matter and declare Qureshi ineligible.

In a meeting chaired by Sindh PPP president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro at the CM House on Wednesday, provincial secretary Aajiz Dhamra presented a bill with the demand.

By-elections are to be held for the PS-52 constituency in Umerkot in April. The seat fell vacant in January after the death of MPA Ali Mardan Shah.

Separately, PPP leader Taj Haider wrote a letter to the chief election commissioner to highlight the matter. “[Qureshi] while being a member of the federal cabinet, has addressed his spiritual followers in...PS-52 through a telephonic call and has urged them to vote for [Grand Democratic Alliance candidate] Arbab Ghulam Rahim,” states the letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

“This indulgence by the foreign minister is a clear and blatant violation of the Code of Conduct,” it goes on to say, asking the ECP to take appropriate legal action in the matter.

During the meeting at CM House, Khuhro also said that the PPP rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to issue the new National Finance Commission (NFC) Award after the poverty survey, claiming that not issuing the award immediately was a violation of the 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy.

“The NFC Award must be issued after every five years but the federal government wants to weaken the provinces financially by delaying it,” he claimed, demanding an increase in the provinces’ share from 57 to 60 per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2020.