Second time’s a charm?: Pakistan Sunni Tehreek hopeful of winning three provincial assembly seats

The party which boycotted the 2008 elections is back with a new name.

KARACHI: After boycotting the general elections in 2008, the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) is hoping to secure three provincial assembly seats in Karachi.

The party, which has a table lamp as its symbol, contested in 2002 as Sunni Tehreek. Now, it is back with a new name and has nominated 85 candidates for provincial assembly and National Assembly seats in Sindh, out of which 39 are from Karachi.

The party’s media secretary, Faheemuddin Shaikh, said, “Our candidates are contesting from all areas where our vote bank is strong. Ranchore Line, Shershah and Keamari are areas where we have a majority of supporters. We are expecting to win Sindh Assembly seats in these areas.”

He added that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is their main competitor as a majority of their voters reside in its strongholds. He added that when Sunni Tehreek boycotted the 2008 elections, this translated into more votes for the MQM. Shaikh claimed that ST stood third in the 2002 general elections in terms of votes but couldn’t secure a seat because it was the first time the party participated in elections since it emerged in 1990.



While talking about seat adjustment and alliances with other parties, he expressed his disappointment over the failure of the 10-party alliance in Sindh which included PST, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). “Sadly, the 10-party alliance failed to contest under one political symbol. It could have been a game-changer,” he said. “PST and other parties now are trying to make seat-to-seat adjustments so that our candidates don’t cut into each other’s votes.”

PST is currently in negotiations with the Pakistan Peoples Party, PML-N and Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen for ironing out seat adjustment deals and its political committee will make an announcement about this soon. PST also plans to hold a number of big public meetings in Karachi and will launch its political campaign soon.

Security concerns

Sheikh claimed that the party had come under attack when it announced that it would contest in the upcoming elections and some groups were hatching conspiracies to force it to boycott the elections again. “There have been attempts to intimidate our party’s activists and candidates since the day we announced we would participate in the elections. Two of our activists were killed and another two were injured in separate places within a couple of days.”



He said that it was the caretaker government’s responsibility to conduct free and fair elections, but it seems to be leaning towards certain political parties. “Our wall-chalking have been wiped out in some areas and our candidates have been pressured. It seems as if the election commission is not taking security concerns seriously.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2013.