Upcoming polls: Paul Bhatti, three others quit APMA
The PPP has included Paul in the list of candidates that it submitted for reserved NA seats.
Paul Bhatti. PHOTO: NNI/FILE
LAHORE:
The head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) and three of its central executive committee members ditched the grouping on Saturday and announced that they would run for the elections on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) tickets.
APMA Chairman Dr Paul Bhatti and three CEC members – Naveed Aamir Jeeva, Najmi Saleem and Jaffar George – have tendered their resignations and quit the alliance which works for the rights of the Christian community.
APMA was founded by Paul’s brother Shahbaz Bhatti, the former federal minister for human rights who was assassinated in 2011 in Islamabad. Shahbaz was a vocal supporter of PPP as an independent rights activist.
After his brother’s assassination, Paul registered APMA as a political party with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and vowed to participate in the forthcoming parliamentary polls. But Paul and the three CEC members decided to quit the party after they realised that it was impossible to get a PPP ticket while still being a part of it.
The PPP included Paul as a second candidate in the list of candidates that it submitted for the reserved seats of the National Assembly. Jeeva’s name was also included as the second candidate in the list of reserved seats for Punjab Assembly.
Saleem’s name was put in PPP’s women’s reserved seats for PA while George’s name was added in the list of PPP’s reserved seats for Balochistan Assembly.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2013.
The head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) and three of its central executive committee members ditched the grouping on Saturday and announced that they would run for the elections on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) tickets.
APMA Chairman Dr Paul Bhatti and three CEC members – Naveed Aamir Jeeva, Najmi Saleem and Jaffar George – have tendered their resignations and quit the alliance which works for the rights of the Christian community.
APMA was founded by Paul’s brother Shahbaz Bhatti, the former federal minister for human rights who was assassinated in 2011 in Islamabad. Shahbaz was a vocal supporter of PPP as an independent rights activist.
After his brother’s assassination, Paul registered APMA as a political party with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and vowed to participate in the forthcoming parliamentary polls. But Paul and the three CEC members decided to quit the party after they realised that it was impossible to get a PPP ticket while still being a part of it.
The PPP included Paul as a second candidate in the list of candidates that it submitted for the reserved seats of the National Assembly. Jeeva’s name was also included as the second candidate in the list of reserved seats for Punjab Assembly.
Saleem’s name was put in PPP’s women’s reserved seats for PA while George’s name was added in the list of PPP’s reserved seats for Balochistan Assembly.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2013.