Intra party polls: PPP-Parliamentarians re-elects Amin Fahim

Sindh council members elect provincial body, CEC while federal council members elect central body.

KARACHI:

In a surprising move, the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) conducted intra-party polls on Saturday, electing its central and provincial bodies.

The polls – deemed a legal requirement by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) – were held at Bilawal House. However, not many PPP leaders were aware of how and when the process took place.

A party spokesman said the new office bearers were elected unopposed as none of the members had filed their nomination papers and contested the election against them.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim was re-elected as central chairman and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been elected secretary general of the party.

Other office bearers include Manzoor Wattoo, President PPPP Punjab, Tanveer Ashraf Kaira, General Secretary Punjab, Qaim Ali Shah, President Sindh, Taj Haider, General Secretary Sindh, Anwar Saifullah President Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sadiq Umrani, President Balochistan. Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naek is said to have played the role of election commissioner at Bilawal House on Friday.

It was not Pakistan Peoples Party’s election, which is currently headed by its chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari, but it is Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) the party created by Ameen Faheem (in the absence of Benazir Bhutto to contest the general election), the party is an electoral extension of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).



The Sindh council members elected the provincial body and central executive committee and the federal council members elected the central body.

Most people were not aware of the election. “I think the election has taken place in Islamabad not in Karachi,” Waqar, PPP information secretary Sindh told The Express Tribune.

When contacted some members of Sindh council who are district presidents were not aware about the election. But sources said that the result has been announced following consultation with leadership in the wake of Supreme Court’s directives that all political parties should hold intra-party election before the general polls.

Talking to The Express Tribune, newly appointed PPPP Balochistan President Sadiq Umrani said that they have filed the nomination paper on January 15 and scrutiny of the papers was stated by January 18 and elections were held on January 25 at Bilawal House, Karachi.

“The members of central executive committee, federal and provincial council members from all provinces were present who have elected the office bearers of their party,” he said.“Except for a few, the existing body has been re-elected unopposed,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2013.