LAHORE: PPP leader Manzoor Wattoo has suggested that all candidates contesting for the NA-120 by-election withdraw their papers and let Begum Kulsoom Nawaz elected unopposed from the constituency, which fell vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified her husband Nawaz Sharif.

“It looks inappropriate to run electioneering against Begum Kulsoom, who is suffering from cancer,” Mr Wattoo said here on Thursday.

PPP candidate Faisal Mir, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Yasmin Rashid and 52 others are in the run for the seat polling which is scheduled for Sept 17.

Party leaders Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had motivated the PPP activists a couple of days ago to work for the success of Mr Mir.

Mr Wattoo, former chief minister, said in his personal opinion all parties should end election campaigns for their respective candidates keeping in view human values and as a show of solidarity with ailing nominee of the PML-N. He said he would talk to his leadership too on the issue.

He said he thought that such a gesture would help release political tension prevailing in the country at a time when the nation was facing threats at the international level and give a message of national unity in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s statement.

He said Assefa Bhutto Zardari’s and (PTI chairman) Imran Khan’s tweets showing sympathy with Begum Kulsoom were good gestures.

Mr Mir, however, says he is running his campaign enthusiastically as the leadership is not considering any proposal of withdrawing him from the contest.

At a corner meeting, he also said one could not say after visiting the constituency that it was represented by a prime minister because its roads and sewerage system were in a shambles.

He said the former prime minister never visited the constituency after winning from here and hoped that the voters would not repose their trust in such a person or his spouse.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2017