Daily Times

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice President and Leader of Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Friday said it was ironic that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the by-election in the National Assembly constituency of Karachi Thursday despite having no vote bank or supporters there.

It was all the more strange that the PPP’s Sindh government had carried out no development work in the NA-249 constituency, but its candidate won the election, he said, adding PPP Chairman Bilawal Zardari should have thanked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) instead of “thank you Karachi” in his video message.

Addressing a press conference here in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem said the entire PPP leadership, including assembly members and ministers were seen freely campaigning in the constituency, but the ECP did not take any action. On the other hand, a case was lodged against him under anti-terrorism law when he went to Malir to cast his vote, he added.

He alleged that it was a “fake victory” of the PPP candidate which was made possible by the nexus of PPP, ECP and police. A presiding officer had got signatures of related people on a blank paper, he claimed.

The Election Commission, he alleged, had failed to hold transparent by-elections in NA-249.

He said in the next general election electronic voting machines would be used, and the teams of PTI’s lawyers and experts were working on the matter.

Haleem said the local people of Malir had always supported the PPP, but the party leaders were seen nowhere when the villages were being forcefully vacated.

Haleem said he saluted the journalists who were highlighting the issue of Malir villages. “The real owner of housing estates in Malir is not Malik Riaz but the PPP,” he claimed.

He said the PPP government had twice given its no-objection certificates for Karachi’s Bundle islands, but now its leaders were doing politics on the issue. The PTI leader said his party’s Punjab government was serving its people during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.