PPP gets lion’s share in Sindh

Ruling party bags seven seats, joint opposition wins four seats

KARACHI:

In an expected win, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) bagged majority of the Senate seats in Sindh on Wednesday, with the joint opposition comprising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) managing to get elected on just four out of 11 seats.

The PPP, which is the ruling party in the province with a majority in the Sindh Assembly, won five general seats and one each of the reserved seats for technocrats and women.

Winners

The results show that PPP's Sherry Rehman with 22 votes, Jam Mehtab Dahar with 19 votes, Saleem Mandviwalla with 20 votes, Taj Haider with 20 votes and Shahadat Awan with 10 votes, MQM-P's Faisal Subzwari with 22 votes and PTI's Faisal Vawada - who is also the federal water resources minister - with 22 votes were elected on seven general seats.

Palwasha Khan of the PPP and Khalida Ateen of the MQM-P won women seats, with 60 and 57 votes, respectively.

On seats reserved for technocrats, PPP's Farooq H Naek was elected after receiving 61 votes and PTI's Saifullah Abro after he bagged 57 votes.

Candidates of the GDA and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which has just three MPAs in the provincial assembly, could not get elected on any seat.

GDA candidate Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashdi, who was competing for a general seat, secured just 15 votes, while the TLP candidate, who was contesting the election on technocrat seats, received just three votes.

Also read: PDM's Yousaf Raza Gilani defeats PTI's Hafeez Shaikh in major upset in Senate elections

Before the polling

It was amid tight security, sloganeering, jeering, claims of victory, a one-off incident of the violation of code of conduct and a heated atmosphere overall that the Senate election commenced in the Sindh Assembly, where 167 lawmakers cast votes for 11 seats in the 168-member house.

A charged atmosphere was witnessed when PTI lawmakers entered the assembly premises with pomp and show, distributing sweetmeats and claiming victory even before the polling had begun.

"We are distributing sweets because the PTI, led by [Prime Minister] Imran Khan, will defeat all those who have hopes of winning the poll here, and even in Islamabad," said PTI MPA Abdul Aziz GG.

The party's lawmakers had entered the assembly premises along with MPA Karim Bux Gabol, who had found himself at the centre of a melee in the house the previous day after releasing a video maintaining that he would not cast vote for his party's candidates. A blame game followed the episode, with PPP and PTI lawmakers accusing each other of kidnapping Gabol.

They went inside the assembly hall without speaking to the media.

On the other hand, PPP leader Sharjeel Inam Memon was also confident about his party winning the polls.

GDA lawmakers, who said they had not been approached by the PPP for support, said their votes were for the opposition.

Meanwhile, PTI MPA Shaharyar Shar and Aslam Abro, who had also released videos stating that they would not be voting for their party's candidates, held firm that they would vote in favour of the PPP candidates.

The election

When the polling eventually began, Mir Shabbir Ali Khan Bijarani was the first one to cast the vote.

The assembly hall, which had been turned into a polling station for the day, had three separate entrances, each designated for opposition members, treasury members and staff.

Media persons were not allowed to enter the hall and witness the election process.

The balloting ended with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah casting the last vote on the day.

Abdul Rasheed of the Jamat-e-Islami was the only lawmaker who abstained from voting for any of the seats, in line with the stance of his party.

"Our party has decided not to take part in the electoral process, which is surrounded by controversy because of pre-poll rigging," he said while speaking to the media.

Besides, TLP lawmakers voted for just technocrat seats.

Also read: PPP urges ECP to investigate opposition MPAs stay in Karachi hotels

Breach of code of conduct

While the balloting was underway, PPP election agent Shamim Mumtaz, who was inside the polling station, pulled out a mobile phone from PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman's pocket.

He then asked the provincial election commissioner, who was performing the duties of a returning officer, to take action against the PTI leader over the breach of the code of conduct.

Following that, the election process was suspended for a while. It later resumed with Zaman being allowed to cast vote after he tendered an apology.

'Beyond all odds'

Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh, who has been jailed, reached the assembly for casting his vote in the afternoon.

The PTI leader complained that the government delayed providing him transport to reach the assembly.

"They have been giving me the lame excuse of vehicle not being fit for plying since the morning," he said, adding that "But I was ready to come to the assembly even on a donkey cart had the government failed to provide me transport."

As the balloting progressed, PTI and PPP lawmakers continued to claim victory, shouting slogans inside their party chambers and the assembly hall.

Strict security measures were taken inside and outside the assembly and commandos were deployed to avert any untoward incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2021.