KARACHI: Launching its election campaign based on three points — “respect, justice and empowerment” — the Pak Sarzameen Party announced on Sunday its candidates on Karachi’s national and provincial assembly seats for the July 25 elections.

PSP chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal is among the candidates and he is taking part in the election from one National Assembly (NA-253), which comprises New Karachi and North Karachi areas, and two Sindh Assembly constituencies (PS-124 New Karachi and PS 127 Liaquatabad).

The announcement was made at a workers’ convention held at the Railway ground in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

“We have developed Karachi...We will develop Pakistan” (Karachi banaya tha, Pakistan banayengay) is the campaign slogan of the PSP, whose election symbol is dolphin.

A large number of party workers were present at the venue, which was packed to capacity before the speech of Mr Kamal.

In a thinly veiled criticism to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Pakistan Peoples Party, Mr Kamal told the gathering that the people in Karachi had been facing an acute water shortage and children were dying from hunger.

“Our own watchmen have looted our generations. Are the people ready to change them,” he said. “We have to change our wat­ch­men who looted this province alongside thieves on July 25.”

Reiterating his demand to grant amnesty to youths in Karachi, he asked law enforcement agencies to tell the people about the “sacrifices the PSP workers and youths of Karachi” had rendered.

“Didn’t Karachi youth hand over big caches of arms and ammunition?” he said, without elaborating.

“Bouquets are being presented to insurgents in Balochistan...Have mercy on the youths of Karachi as they have given enough sacrifices,” he said, referring to a state policy of granting amnesty to militants in Balochistan.

PSP president Anis Kaimkhani also spoke.

The PSP fielded its candidates on all 21 NA and 44 PA seats in Karachi.

The candidates on NA seats are: Qari Ashfaq Ahmed (NA-236), Afaq Jamal (NA-237), Rao Muhammad Zubair (NA-238), Syed Nadeem Razi (NA-239), Asif Hasnain (NA-240), Danish Khan (NA-241), Hassaan Sabir (NA-242), Muzammil Qureshi (NA-243), Saeed Shafiq (NA-244), Dr Sagheer Ahmed (NA-245), Ejaz Ahmed Baloch (NA-246), Fauzia Kasuri (NA-247), Yosuf Shahwani (NA-248), Waseem Aftab (NA-249), Syed Hafeezuddin (NA-250), Muhammad Nehal Mallick (NA-251), Iftikhar Randhawa (NA-252), Syed Mustafa Kamal (NA-253), Dr Arshad Vohra (NA-254), Mustafa Jameel Rathore (NA-255) and Adil Siddiqui (NA-256).

The candidates on provincial assembly seats are: Zubair Jan Brohi (PS-87), Farhan Javed (PS-88), Muhammad Azeem (PS-89), Shujaat Ali (PS-90), Muhammad Hanif (PS-91), Abdul Jalil Basit (PS-92), Ashfaq Mangi (PS-93), Muhammad Irfan (PS-94), Sheeraz Waheed (PS-95), Faizan Yasir (PS-96), Saad Siddiqui (PS-97), Dr Yasir Siddiqui (PS-98), Taj Muhammad Aka Khel (PS-99), Shahzad Raza (PS-100), Muhammad Salman (PS-101), Syed Farhan Ansari (PS-102), Sofia Shahid (PS-103), Dr Shoukat Zaman (PS-104), Mehmood Abdul Razzaq (PS-105), Qamar Akhtar Naqvi (PS-106), Sameena Bilal (PS-107), Sadiq Rind (PS-108), Muhammad Dilawar (PS-109), Sharif Awan (PS-110), Mubashir Imam (PS-111), Imtiaz Akbar (PS-112), Haji Ali Muhammad (PS-113), Hafeezuddin (PS-114), Muhammad Saqib (PS-115), Shahnawaz Qureshi (PS-116), Adil Khan (PS-117), Naseem Khan (PS-118), Mehboob Alam (PS-119), Naseeruddin (PS-120), Shaikh Abdullah (PS-121), Adeel Habib Khilji (PS-122), Naila Muneer (PS-123), Mustafa Kamal (PS-124), Anwer Hussain Raza (PS-125), Iftikhar Alam (PS-126), Mustafa Kamal (PS-127), Taha Ahmed Khan (PS-128), Abdul Moeez Khan (PS-129) and Khurram Faiyaz (PS-130).

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2018