PTI sets its sights on prominent Karachi seats

The party is eyeing constituencies where it has pockets of support or the competition is weak.

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has deferred all talks of an electoral alliance for now, but the party is confident it will be able to give political parties a headache by challenging key constituencies, especially in Karachi.

PTI officials say influential tribal leaders in Sindh are supporting the party, and it has a presence in Hyderabad and Jacobabad as well. The party plans to field candidates from all constituencies in Sindh, including Badin, a stronghold of ex-Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza. This could potentially make for an interesting competition, as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also plans to contest the Badin constituency. “We have to give people a choice,” party spokesperson Dawa Khan Sabir said, when asked if it would not be easier for the party to concentrate on a few constituencies.

But it is the provincial capital of Karachi where it claims it can already smell success. Sabir says the party expects to win at least three National Assembly (NA) seats and nine Sindh Assembly (PS) seats in areas where they have pockets of support or believe that the competition won’t be that strong.

The majority of these constituencies are currently held by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). One of these is NA 250, currently held by the MQM’s Khushbakht Shujaat, which covers the Defence and Clifton areas. The PTI recently held a celebratory rally of sorts in Clifton and managed to bring out at least 400 to 500 people.

In 2002, for NA 250 the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) beat the MQM’s Nasreen Jalil and the PPP’s Mirza Ikhtiar Baig. In 2008, Baig ran for the seat again, but was beaten by Shujaat.

The PTI also plans to win in a related constituency, PS 113, which is held by the MQM’s Askari Taqvi. This back-and-forth indicates that the PTI may be able to get a foot in the door, but that depends on the kind of candidate fielded by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) or the five other parties that formed the MMA. While the MMA has not been recreated as yet, the JI has said that it will form an alliance to contest the next elections.

The other seat the PTI is eying is NA 251, held by the MQM’s Waseem Akhtar and its corresponding provincial assembly seat PS 114, held by the MQM’s Rauf Siddiqui. These constituencies include PECHS and Lines Area. The MQM won NA 251 in 2002 as well but PS 114 went to Irfanullah Khan Marwat of the National Alliance, now of the Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad.

PTI does not have a visible presence on the constituency level right now - or any experience of contesting local body elections. While PTI could shake things up in several areas of Karachi, it may be overestimating its chances. It also does not have a well known candidate as yet in Karachi who could potentially bring more voters on board.

NA 239 is one of the Karachi seats that the PTI believes is up for grabs. Currently held by PPP veteran Abdul Qadir Patel, it was won by Hakim Qari Gul Rehman of the MMA in 2002. Patel has served in the provincial assembly in the 1993-1996 period. The constituency includes Golimaar, Keamari and Baldia and parts of Lyari. The related provincial assembly seat (PS 89) has been held by the PPP’s Akhtar Hussain Jadoon since 2002. Defeating two experienced candidates - Patel and Jadoon - may be a challenge for the PTI, particularly because the vote bank of Lyari and the surrounding areas is split between the PPP and the MQM.

PS 91, which comprises Baldia Town, is currently held by the MQM’s Hanif Shaikh. It was also won by the MMA in 2002. Additionally, PS 116, won by the MQM’s Syed Sardar Ahmed in 2008, also went to the MMA in 2002. Thus, the religious party vote bank exists in some form here.

And indeed, even though there were widespread allegations of rigging in the 2002 elections, the success of the religious parties then may still filter down into the 2013 elections. The JI boycotted the 2008 polls as a result of which its vote bank split between the PPP and the Awami National Party.

For now, the Imran Khan-led party says its focus is on ensuring voter registration and encouraging people to go out and vote. It prefers to expend its energies here as it admits that it does not have the resources to transport voters to polling stations unlike other parties. Traditionally they arrange buses and even provide refreshments to voters. Whether the PTI’s legwork now translates into results on the ground will only be seen in 2013, when general elections are scheduled.

List of seats that the PTI is eyeing:

NA 239    Abdul Qadir Patel (PPP)

PS 129     Haji Muzafar Ali Shujra (PPP)

PS 89       Akhtar Hussain Jadoon (PPP)

NA 250    Khushbakht Shujaat (MQM)

NA 251    Waseem Akhtar (MQM)

PS 112     Mouqeem Alam (MQM)

PS 113     Askari Taqvi (MQM)

PS 114     MA Rauf Siddiqui (MQM)

PS 116     Syed Sardar Ahmed (MQM)

PS 124     M Alimur Rehman (MQM)

PS 91       M Hanif Shaikh (MQM)

PS 93       Ameer Nawab (ANP)

PS 128     Amanullah K Masood (ANP)

 

SOURCE: ELECTION COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN WEBSITE

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2011.