|
|
|
| October 1, 2005 | Saturday | Sha'aban 26, 1426 |
Nasim calls for joint opposition candidate: Rawal Town nazim polls
RAWALPINDI, Sept 30: Sardar Nasim has emerged as one of the front-runners in the three-way race for the Rawal Town nazim, the most coveted office of Rawalpindi district after that of the city district nazim.
Mr Nasim is optimistic about his chances and claims enjoying a proven support of over 257 voters in the electoral college comprising 590 votes. He is being supported by PML (N)’s Jamhooriat Nawaz Group, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Al-Khidmat Group and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf.
Besides its significance as a town comprising the premier urban areas of one of the most powerful districts of the country, another reason for its being the focus of attention of all is that it is the home constituency of Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is out to salvage the pride of his “illustrious political career” through his nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, whom he has fielded as his candidate for this seat.
Interestingly, it was the young Shafiq, who had dented Mr Ahmed’s political career after being routed by the MMA’s Hanif Abbassi in the bye-election for NA-56. Ever since, Mr Ahmed has been desperately striving to get the things back on the track.
However, as the providence would have it, in his struggle to restore his political pride, the information minister is facing a challenge from a person, who shot to prominence in the political arena by protesting against his (Mr Ahmed’s) arrest during Tehrik-i-Nijaat.
Mr Nasim, 43, who has remained the Rawalpindi Development Authority chairman and Member Punjab Assembly, believes that long-term and futuristic planning is needed to rid Pindi of its chronic problems.
Born to a middle-class family and now residing in one of the city’s better neighbourhoods - Satellite Town’s F-Block, Mr Nasim rates contaminated water, faulty sewerage, unplanned traffic and adulterated food as the major problems of this city of about one million people.
Lack of coordination among the service providers is another cause of concern for Mr Nasim and he vows that if elected he will ensure a better coordination among them whenever some construction project was launched, as in the obtaining situation things constructed one day are uprooted the other day on the pretext of providing one service or the other.
Summing up his understanding of the sorry state of the civic facilities in the town, the Asghar Mall graduate says contaminated water and adulterated food have alarmingly increased the morbidity and mortality rates in the city.
About his contest for the Rawal Town nazim, Mr Nasim says, black money has started rolling in, as the operators of all major gambling dens, bookies and people associated with the underground world of India and United Arab Emirates had ganged up against him.
He believes a consensus candidate from the opposition camp can turn the tables on Sheikh Rashid’s nominee. “Whatsoever position Mr Ahmed is enjoying today is because of division of the opposition into two groups.”
Besides Mr Nasim, the other opposition candidate is Mian Khurram Rasool running from the Awam Dost platform of PPP.
Defending his candidature, the Rawal Town nazim aspirant says his conviction in the Supreme Court case renders him disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, whereas he remains unaffected under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance that governs the local bodies elections.
|
|
|
|
