KARACHI: The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party vanquished the traditional political adversaries in their strongholds — the Arbab group in Tharparkar, the Shirazi brothers in Thatta, the Jatois in Naushahro Feroze and Dadu and the Pir Pagara-led Pakistan Muslim League-Functional in Umerkot — to sweep to victory in 13 of the 14 districts in the second phase of the five-ever party-based local government elections in Sindh, unofficial results from various districts showed on Friday.

While in Badin where the group led by former home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza grabbed almost half the local bodies seats, the PPP completely dominated Umerkot, considered to be a stronghold of the PML-F for years. Apart from four wards in the Umerkot municipal committee, which the PPP lost to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, and three out of 42 union councils in the district — two lost to the PTI and one to the PML-F — it won all the seats.

The dominant Arbabs of Tharparkar, who ruled the district twice during the era of former military dictator retired general Pervez Musharraf, could win just six union councils against the PPP’s 43. Out of six town committees, the Arbab group barely won two and conceded four to the PPP.

Election for the Mithi municipal committee was postponed by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Independent observers called it the ‘people’s revenge’ against the Arbab group.

Similarly, the powerful Shirazi brothers suffered what area observers called a ‘miserable defeat’ in Thatta and Sujawal districts, where they won barely less than 10 per cent of seats despite the fact that they have been ruling the roost in the then undivided Thatta district for years.

People in the area said the key reason behind their defeat was their continued switching of loyalties to different political parties and also the PPP’s incumbency factor after its landslide victory in the first phase of the LG elections.

In Dadu, former chief minister Liaquat Jatoi’s Awami Ittehad Party could hardly win 11 out of 66 district council seats and lost the rest to the PPP. Apart from the incumbency factor, critics said, the PPP’s dominant leadership had allegedly rigged in some of the district’s areas.

The Jatoi group of Naushahro Feroze, now a part of the PML-Nawaz, which had ruled the district twice during the Musharraf regime, could not retain its stronghold Moro this time. Their allies — the Shah group — too failed to contain the PPP’s wave, which won 46 out of 64 district council’s seats apart from dominating other urban municipal units.

Although it dominated the district, it appeared that the PPP lost its foothold in many neighbourhoods of Mirpurkhas city where historically it would put up a neck-and-neck contest against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The MQM, according to initial unofficial results, will comfortably form its administration as it has won 33 out of 46 wards.

The MQM also won 77 out of 96 union committees of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and would comfortably get its mayor and deputy mayor elected.

The PPP has won the Qasimabad municipal committee and Hyderabad’s district council.

Unofficial results suggested that the PPP repeated the performance it had shown in the first phase of the LG election and won the remaining five of the 14 districts — Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Jamshoro and Benazirabad — in the Thursday election.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2015