HARIPUR: Some of the independent councillors-elect, who had defeated the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf nominees in May 30 local government elections, have joined the PTI ranks against the will of their grouchy supporters.

According to a self-contradictory law, they were supposed to join any of the political parties after their victory in the elections. They were eligible to contest elections as independent candidates, but they cannot retain their independent status after getting elected.

This law, a relic from the Gen Musharraf regime, strips councillors of their basic right of not siding with the government or joining any political party. It itself is repugnant to the spirit of the constitution and abuse of political rights.

Commenting on the excision of political independence, Amjad Chugtai, a local leader of ANP, said that political expediency was called a virtue, when committed by the government. He said that those, who had splurged a lot during the electioneering, were finding safe havens for them by joining the government.

Senior lawyer terms it the worst kind of political expediency

The district councillors-elect Advocate Sardar Mumtaz from union council Dingi, Syed Zulfiqar Shah from union council Bakka, Shahid Amin from union council North, Haripur, Qazi Raza from union council Central, Haripur, Malik Hasrat Ali from union council Sirya, Saeed Khan from union council Tofkian and Sikandar Hayat from union council Khalabat, have joined PTI.

Similarly, tehsil-councillors-elect Syed Aleem Pasha from union council North, Haripur, Zahid Afzal from union council Sirya and Mohammad Ishtiaq from union council Manikrai too have jumped on the bandwagon of Imran Khan.

Syed Aleem Pasha, who was an independent candidate, defeated PTI former district president Kamal Ghaznavi. The PTI didn’t put its candidate for the post of district councillor against Shahid Amin Khan, who won his seat as independent candidate and then joined PTI.

All the new entrants in PTI had given a crushing defeat to the PTI nominees, but after bagging seats, they have become integral part of PTI. A local senior advocate termed it the worst kind of ‘political expediency’. “Here lies a question, what will be the fate of PTI office-bearers and well-wishers, who had campaigned against the PTI new faces (erstwhile independent candidates),” he added.

Two of the independent district councillors-elect -- Chaudhry Dad Mohammad from Rehana union council and Malik Pervez from Bagra nion council -- had joined PML-N. It was an interesting competition as it is the native union council of MNA Omar Ayub Khan. Chaudhry Dad Mohammad has won the seat from Riaz Khan, who has been a supporter of PML-N.

Meanwhile, Syed Taimur Shah, a district councillor-elect from union council Ali Khan, along with two other tehsil councillors-elect, joined Jamaat-i-Islami here on Wednesday.

JI provincial ministers Muzaffar Said and Inyatullah Khan visited the residence of Taimur Shah and welcomed him in the party. Shahid Gohar, the local information secretary of JI, said that tehsil councillors-elect Saleh Mohammad from union council Ladermang and Munwar Khan from union council Panian also joined JI.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2015

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