DADU: Awami Ittehad leader Liaquat Ali Jatoi, who is also a former chief minister of Sindh, on Tuesday accused the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of using state machinery and funds as well as providing undue protocol to its candidate for the PS-76 Khairpur Nathan Shah where a by-election is to be held on March 3.

The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court on Jan 6 declared the election tribunal’s decision in favour of Mr Jatoi, who had challenged the results declaring Parveen Jatoi elected. The apex court ordered a by-election for the Sindh Assembly seat.

Mr Jatoi’s younger brother, Ihsan Ali Jatoi, has filed his nomination papers and the PPP has fielded Abdul Aziz Junejo for the PS-76 by-poll.

Speaking at a press conference at his Dadu residence, Liaquat Jatoi along with Ihsan Jatoi, Dhani Bukhsh Jatoi, Ashiq Zour and former district nazim Karim Ali Jatoi expressed his serious reservations over “unfair and undue facilities, funds and security being extended to the PPP candidate” to help him win the by-poll.

Mr Junejo, he claimed, had been provided police protocol, armed bodyguards and public funds while officials of the district administration were also fully supporting him in his election campaign. The official machinery was also put at his disposal, he alleged.

In the 2008 and 2013 general elections, Mr Jatoi went on, the PPP had resorted to massive rigging in Sindh and again in the recent local government election, bogus votes were cast to ensure PPP candidates’ victory. The election staff were also involved in the rigging, he alleged.

“Dadu Deputy Commissioner Sardar Ahmed Jamali is serving as Munshi of PPP members of the national and Sindh assemblies in this district,” he remarked, and warned that a fair election in the PS-76 could not be held until army and Rangers troops were deployed in and around all polling stations.

Accusing Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah of actively involving himself in the PPP candidate’s election campaign, Mr Jatoi said he [Mr Shah] along with his several cabinet colleagues visited Mr Junejo’s native village in Khanpur and announced funding of millions of rupees in certain schemes that had earlier been proposed by the candidate. “The CM will release the funds which will definitely be used in Mr Junejo’s election campaign,” he said.

Mr Jatoi claimed that only five per cent of funds allocated for various uplift schemes in Dadu and other parts of the province was paid to contractors while the rest of the money was usurped. The party’s MNAs and MPAs from Dadu district were misappropriating billions of rupees meant for development schemes, he added.

The AI leader observed that police were being used against PPP opponents across the province. He further observed that the PPP government had failed to maintain law and order and deliver in all sectors including education and health.

Pictures and videos showing the chief minister and other senior PPP leaders with suspected Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch were ample proof of a close coordination between them in crime and corruption, he said.

Uziar Baloch, Dr Asim Hussain and Mustafa Memon had long been serving as very close associates of the top PPP leadership, which was now refusing to own them.

Speaking to the media, AI candidate Ihsan Jatoi said he was being harassed and threatened by PPP leaders at whose behest his election campaign was being hindered.

He demanded security for himself and his family members, and warned that if any harm came to them, the responsibility would rest on the chief minister and local PPP leadership.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016