Political parties turn up their noses at Mirza’s empty Badin seat

They do not want to ‘waste their energy’ on a seat that will be held for just a year.


Hafeez Tunio January 09, 2012

KARACHI:



Zulfiqar Mirza’s resignation left his Badin seat vacant. But instead of a clamour to fight for this slot, the field is conspicuously quiet on the campaign front.


People are expected to vote on February 15 for the by-election on PS-57 Tando Bago. “The date has been announced, but there seems to be no campaigning in the constituency,” said PPP-MPA Dr Sikander Mandhro, who is also the president of the Badin division of the party. “I do not know who the next candidate will be even though only two days are left to submit nomination forms.”

Sources from the PPP said that Zulfikar Mirza’s son, Hasnain, may be nominated for the seat. But some leaders of the party oppose this. During a meeting held at Chief Minister House a few days ago, two members of the Sindh Assembly, Nawaz Chandio and Babu Talpur, recommended the names of former MPAs, Pir Amjad Shah Jilani and Gafoor Nizamani instead. “We will protest if Husnain Mirza is nominated,” they warned.

Thus, at this point in time, even the party’s senior leader in Badin as well as the members of its election board do not know who the candidate will be.

The leaders of other political parties said that they did not want to spend their energy on a seat which will be occupied for only a year. Some of them are even considering challenging the by-elections on the basis of electoral fraud.

The leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement were uncertain about whether they wanted to take part in the elections.

However, the PPP should expect some competition. Former minister for population and social welfare, Syed Ali Bux Shah, who belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, said that he would not let the PPP win the election so easily. “It is my constituency. I had won the election in 2002. It is no longer possible for the PPP to defeat me if fair elections are held,” he claimed. Shah also expressed his concern over electoral fraud and requested the election commission to expedite the verification of the electoral rolls. “There are slim chances for election to take place because many people are willing to challenge it. Besides, everything is a mess because of the floods – the schools and dispensaries are still inundated. Where will the election booths be set up?” he asked.

On the other hand the PML-Q likeminded group has announced that it will nominate Saen Bux Jamali, a landlord of the area, to contest the by-election on behalf of the party.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has a name but it’s Sindh general secretary, Dr Hasan Raza Memon, said he was not at liberty to make any announcement. He felt that it would be good practice for the party to go through the exercise and that they had good support in the area.

“The former provincial minister has done nothing for his people in his own constituency and we are in better position there,” he told The Express Tribune. “Let people decide which party is better for them.” Memon added that they were meeting today to decide on a candidate.

Meanwhile, another PTI leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Express Tribune that his party had already filed a petition against the scandal in the 2007 electoral rolls - about 47 per cent of the 81.2 million votes were bogus. “We may push for a stay order against the by-election because the commission itself has confessed that it will not be possible to finish the verification process of electoral rolls before May. How can anybody expect fair results?” he said.

The seat fell vacant after Dr Zulfikar Mirza resigned on August 28, 2011.

The election commissioner, Sono Khan Baloch, said that according to the schedule, candidates will submit their nominations forms on January 12. These documents will be assessed on January 16 and 17. The date of withdrawal from the elections has been fixed to January 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2012. 

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