MUZAFFARGARH, June 30: Disappointed over the defeat of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate in by-elections for PP-258, PPP Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sardar Abdul Qayyum Jatoi said on Monday that he would leave the country soon and would focus on human rights issues of his constituency.

Talking to Dawn at the district police office on Monday, Mr Jatoi said after spending years in active politics, he had come to the conclusion that there was no rule of law or value of merit in politics. He said he would not accept any slot or ministry in the government.

Mr Jatoi was the only PPP leader in Punjab who was elected district nazim in the 2005 local council elections after leaving his National Assembly seat. Despite facing mounting pressure from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q regime, he did not ditch his party to join the PPP-Patriots or the PML-Q. Resultantly, funds for the district were stopped and no development work could be undertaken during his two-year tenure as district nazim. In the Feb 18 election, he was elected MNA and MPA from Alipur and Jatoi. He said despite his decision to turning to social work, he would not leave his party.

About the defeat of his cousin Dr Zaqaullah Jatoi, who was the PPP candidate in the by-election, the senior Jatoi said agencies played an important role in the defeat of the PPP candidate. He said a day prior to the polling he had come to know that agencies had planned to rout out the ruling party’s candidate.

He said even though he would spend most of his time abroad, he would closely watch rights related issues in his constituency.

Also, Haroon Sultan Bukhari, who won by-elections as independent candidate for PP-258, said that after taking oath he would join the ruling PML-N. He said the elections were fair and free.

JAMIL QURESHI: People celebrated the release of Shahid Jameel Qureshi, by visiting his residence and dishing out sweets.