KARACHI: After a brief U-turn on the Karachi contest, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President Mian Shehbaz Sharif submitted nomination forms from two Karachi constituencies of the National Assembly on Monday evening.
“President of PMLN, Shehbaz Sharif, submitted on Monday nomination forms from NA-249 and NA-250, however, he will contest from one of these constituencies, which will be decided later,” Saleem Zia, the central leader of PMLN, told Arab News.
Last Thursday, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari submitted his nomination papers to contest elections from two National Assembly seats — NA-246 of Karachi’s Lyari area and NA-200 of Larkana — which his party has been winning since the 1970s.
PTI Chief Imran Khan submitted his nomination form for NA-243 of the city, which analysts believe is a challenging one.
Amanullah Afridi, the PMLN parliamentary leader of Karachi city council, said that NA-249 was the stronghold from where his party, PMLN, had won four out of nine union committees in local government elections. The remaining five were won by different political parties. “We also have a good vote bank in NA-250,” Afridi told Arab News.
Local leaders of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) submitting nomination forms for former president Pervez Musharraf on Monday. (Photo courtesy: APML)
Why has the PMLN leadership chosen Karachi?
Saleem Zia said that the city owes much to his party as it was the PMLN that rid Karachiites of the continued violence which paralyzed the city. “The PMLN leadership, by starting the Karachi operation, has got the Karachiites rid of mental stress. We have restored the peace and the people accept it. They will accept it by polling large number of votes to the PML-N candidates in the next polls.”
Shehbaz Sharif made six visits to Karachi last month, Zia said. “Shehbaz Sharif is not only contesting elections but he has plans for Karachi, which is faced with various types of problems.”
Analysts concur that PMLN is primarily banking on its achievement in the Karachi operation.
“The Pashtun votes are believed to be going in favor of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but the community gives credit for peace in Karachi to PML-N. All the operations in Karachi have been carried in the regime of PMLN,” said Mazhar Abbas, a senior political commentator.
“We saw that a large number of people from areas where Pashtun, Punjabi and other communities live polled votes for the PMLN candidates in local government elections, which must be very encouraging for the party,” Abbas told Arab News, adding it might be one of the reasons that for the first time a member of the Sharif family is contesting from Karachi.
“If Shehbaz Sharif contests from Karachi it will benefit the party itself and give momentum to the party election drive.”
Mazhar Abbas sees it as a good sign that Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto and Imran Khan will be contesting from the city, besides leaders of the local party who are in the race. “Dr. Farooq Sattar, Mustafa Kamal and several other important figures will contest from Karachi. “But it’s happening for the first time that the leadership of the three major political parties will contest from the commercial capital,” Abbas said.
“Since 1970 we have seen that the parties forming government in the center hardly take seats from Karachi. If PTI takes a good number of seats from Karachi and forms a government in the center it will be a record,” Abbas said.
Karachi has always been important as it is the financial hub of the country. “If Shehbaz Sharif is elected from Sindh, he will be bound to do something for Sindh which has long being neglected due to the apathy being shown toward it by parties ruling in Sindh province,” said Senator Mushahidullah Khan, the PML-N central leader.
Mushahidullah Khan, who has also submitted nomination forms from NA-249 from the PMLN, said that he will withdraw in favor of Sharif as his seat is the most secure seat.
However, others view the decision as unwise.
“Given the electoral strength of PML-N in Karachi, the decision can’t be declared a wise one,” said Saeed Khawar, senior political analyst. “If Shehbaz Sharif is able to save his surety from being fortified, it will be a great success.”
The positive is, he said, while agreeing with the others, is that it will give Shehbaz Sharif a national face. “The step which Nawaz Sharif failed to take in nearly three decades, his younger brother is going to take. Shehbaz Sharif has given a good message that he is a national leader, which is required of a leader expecting to be the future prime minister of Pakistan,” Khawar told Arab News.
On Monday, former president Pervez Musharraf also submitted nomination forms from NA-247, Clifton-Defense. Earlier, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan leader Dr. Farooq Sattar, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Dr. Arif Alvi, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Hussain and PPP leader Abdul Aziz Memon also submitted nomination forms from the same seat.
“With three heads of major political parties contesting from Karachi, several important leaders are in the race to book a seat in the national assembly from Karachi, which has made the city central to country general polls,” Khawar said.
