KARACHI: After rumours of his ‘secret deal’ with former president Asif Ali Zardari, the announcement of PML-N’s Irfanullah Marwat to support the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate in PS-114 by-election has made it tough for the three-time winner of the constituency – the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan – to regain its seat.
The Farooq Sattar-led party is however confident that it will reclaim the seat it has won in 1990, 1993 and 2008 elections. Muhammad Rauf Siddiqui, Mirza Shahid Baig and Rana Safdar have been declared returned candidates from the Muttahida Quami Movement tickets.
Siddiqui, who became runners-up in 2013, moved to the Election Tribunal, which on July 25, 2014, declared the election of Irfanullah Marwat void and ordered re-election. The PML-N lawmaker challenged the decision of the tribunal in the apex court, which after legal battle of three years upheld the decision of the tribunal and ordered by-polls. Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced to hold by-election in Sindh Assembly constituency PS-114 (Karachi) on July 9.
Minus-Marwat: Irfanullah Marwat, who on Saturday announced to support Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Engineer Najeeb Haroon, is a famous figure of the area, who had won the seat both on party ticket as well as an independent candidate, conveniently.
“Whether I’m in power or not, I remain with my people, attending their weddings and funerals and resolve every matter of the dwellers,” Marwat told this scribe in an earlier interview. Marwat, ethnically Pashtun, can fluently speak Punjabi, Saraiki, and Urdu besides his mother tongue Pashto, making him a perfect fit for the mix locality speaking all these languages.
The PS-114 constituency consists of Mehmoodabad No 1 to 6, Chanesar Goth, Manzoor Colony, Akhter Colony, Azam Basti, Kashmir Colony, Defence View and Karachi Administration Employees Co-operative Housing Society (KAECHS), where a large number of people of Christian faith also reside.
Marwat-Zardari deal: According to sources, the Pakistan People’s Party, which after resistance from Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari stopped Marwat’s joining into the party, had been secretly persuading the Pashtun lawmaker to support PPP in return for favouring him on National Assembly seat in 2018 general election.
“Contesting by-poll is tantamount to accepting the court verdict, against which I have already filed a review petition,” Marwat told this scribe, adding that even if he failed to get relief in review petition he would file a constitutional petition as the Supreme Court’s judgement had offered more than what was requested by the applicant.
According to Marwat, the complainant had complained of rigging on 6 polling stations whereas the court issued order of re-election citing the reason of 14,000 unverified votes, which could be of his opponent.
Dispelling the impression that his decision of staying away from the by-polls was part of the deal, Marwat said that supporting PPP, either covertly or openly, was ‘out of question’. About supporting the MQM, he said, “I would quit politics but wouldn’t extend any support to a party against which I have been fighting from the day one.”
No harsh reaction: Though the response of Zardari’s daughter to likely joining of Marwat was very harsh, the Pushtun politician didn’t respond in the same harsh tone, giving the impression that Zardari-Marwat deal was intact.
The “sick man should be rotting in a jail cell somewhere not coming anywhere near the PPP. Party that was led by a woman will not tolerate such people,” Bakhtawar had said, also quoting a tweet by Salma Jaffar that reads, “raped by five gunmen who said they were sent by Irfanullah Marwat to punish her fr (sic) her links to Bhutto”.
Jaffar also shared the link of a story published in Los Angeles Times on December 20, 1991, which reads, “Police beat back demonstrators from the gates of parliament on Thursday when former prime minister Benazir Bhutto sought to highlight charges that officials organised the gang-rape of her friend.”
Emanuel Samuel, a local journalist from the constituency, claims that despite his open support to PTI Najeeb Haroon, Marwat was secretly supporting the PPP’s Senator Ghani.
PTI vs MQM: Though the PPP has fielded its strongest candidate, Marwat’s support to the PTI and past election trends show that the election is going to be a ‘PTI vs MQM’ contest.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had decided to field Chaudhry Owais as its candidate for the PS-114 Karachi by-election on July 9. But sensing Marwat’s withdrawal, it changed the plan and 31-year-old Owais was replaced with senior leader Engineer Najeeb Haroon as candidate.
The decision, according to sources, was a result of realisation that the PTI was going to fight key leaders of the rival parties – Senator Saeed Ghani of the Pakistan People’s Party and a strong candidate from the MQM. The party also managed to secured support of Marwat, which will be of great help to the PTI’s contender.
The MQM-P nominated Kamran Tessori, a local businessman who joined the MQM-P after parting ways with the PML-F, after rigorous consultation. “No doubt it will be a tough contest but we are confident that the electorates of the area will repose their trust in the MQM by electing it for the forth time,” MQM-P spokesperson Naeemul Haque told this scribe.
PPP striving: Samuel, who is a Christian by faith and Punjabi by ethnicity, says that after Marwat’s exit from the race, the monitories will support the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. “This can go in favour of the PPP as minorities, especially the Christian, make nearly 40 percent of the population of the locality,” he claims. Senator Saeed Ghani on Sunday visited headquarters of the Sunni Tehreek to request the party’s support in by-elections. A day earlier, Ghani dropped his plan to meet chief of the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Alama Aurengzeb Farooqui, at the eleventh hour of the scheduled meeting. Reasons of the cancellation couldn’t be ascertained, however sources confirmed that meeting was scheduled.
Naimat Khan is a Karachi-based analyst and investigative journalist. He tweets at @Nkmalazai