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KARACHI, Aug 12: The ground realities in most of the 18 towns of Karachi district have dispelled the general impression of a direct fight between the pro- and anti-government groups contesting the local body election on a non-party basis.
While the pro-government groups are backed mainly by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a major coalition partner, the anti-government groups have the backing of major opposition forces, chiefly the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and Pakistan People’s Party.
Interestingly, owing to seat adjustment by political parties at UC level, the pre-poll scenario shows rival groups in one UC having fielded joint candidates in the other. Such a situation has developed because all political parties – MQM, PPP, JI, PML, PPP, etc. – have their own strongholds and vote banks in different parts of the district.
Not only the opposition parties and alliances, the parties in the provincial coalition have also made seat adjustments with some other parties. And in some cases, the coalition components are contesting against each other to ensure maximum possible representation in the city council of their affiliated groups. In order to avoid confusion, panels have been formed at UC level so that voters could have a clear understanding of the sponsoring party.
The MQM-backed Haq Parast Group has fielded the biggest number of such panels followed by the JI-backed Al-Khidmat Group. In most UCs, the Haq Parast Group has made seat adjustments with the groups supported by likeminded parties, mainly the PML-backed Khushal Pakistan Group, but there are at least six instances where it has opted for rivalry with the same group.
Similarly, in some UCs the AL-Khidmat Group is facing Insaan Dost Group which is backed by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, a major ally of JI in the MMA.
The Haq Parast Group has fielded joint panels of nazim/naib nazim with Khushal Pakistan Group in about 30 UCs but in about six other UCs, it is contesting against the same group’s candidates for councillors.
The situation emerging after the final seat adjustments clearly shows that the main rivals in Karachi district are the Haq Parast and Al-Khidmat groups, in other words the MQM and JI.
The MQM’s decision to boycott the local body polls held in 2001 had left the field open to all other parties and consequently the Al-Khidmat group registered a clean sweep. But in the general elections in 2002, the MQM emerged as the biggest party when it captured 28 of the 41 Sindh Assembly seats.
The other major groups that have fielded their candidates/panels in the upcoming local body election are the PPP-backed Awam Dost, JUI(F)-backed Insaan Dost, ANP-backed Khidmatgar, PML(N)-backed Watan Nawaz, JUP(N)-backed Al-Khadim and PTI-backed Insaaf Pasand.
According to MQM sources, the Haq Parast Group is supporting the Khushal Pakistan Group candidates under a formula that the slot of nazim will go to the group having of 60 per cent of votes in the concerned UC whereas the other group having 40 per cent of votes will get the slot of naib nazim.
The Haq Parast Group claims that it represents more than 68 per cent of the city’s population and has made inroads into the constituencies, like those of Lyari, which had been regarded till a few years back as PPP’s strongholds.
The group seems to have determined to consolidate its position in such constituencies as it has opened a large number of election offices and mobilized its active workers in Lyari Town. The opposition parties reject the MQM claim saying that the mobilization and forced entry is a part of the ‘strong arm tactics’ adopted by the coalition to suppress the PPP and other opposition parties.
The opposition forces, more vocal among them being the PPP, JI, JUI, JUP and PTI, claim that the coalition components in general and the MQM in particular have been given a free hand in the electioneering, and allege that the rivals are openly violating the code of conduct by flooding the city with their party flags, banners and posters, besides holding a series of public meetings outdoors, etc., and at the same time resorting to highhandedness by suppressing the election campaign of their rival groups and preventing them from holding even corner meetings and using loudspeakers.
Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, JI’s Naib Amir, believes that the election commission is under the influence of the major parties in the Sindh coalition and seems helpless in the prevailing situation.
SEAT ADJUSTMENTS: The Al-Khidmat Group has fielded panels in most of the 178 UCs of Karachi district and has made seat adjustments with the groups backed by MMA, PPP, Sunni Tehrik, JUP-N and Tehreek-i-Insaaf. More than 120 of the panels have no outsiders while in the remaining ones candidates from other groups have been accommodated. The group has fielded some 1,500 councillors.
The Khushal Pakistan Group has formed 53 panels and fielded 870 councillors in 15 of the 18 towns in cooperation with the Haq Parast Group, says PML leader Haleem Adil Shaikh. According to him, in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Malir and Gadap towns, the KPG has fielded its candidates under adjustments with some local groups represented by Shafi Jamot, Abdul Hakeem Baloch and Sardar Saleh Bhotani. In these towns, the KPG has fielded candidates for 20 panels and over 200 councillors independently.
The Khidmatgar Group has fielded 25 panels and over 300 councillors for UCs in Landhi, Site, Baldia and Keamari towns. It has made adjustment in some of the panels with JUI-F, PML-N, PPP, and also with the MQM. Stating this, ANP leader Farooq Bangash expressed satisfaction over the group’s election campaign.
The Awam Dost group has fielded 65 panels of nazim/naib nazim individually, but in the remaining UCs it has fielded candidates under adjustments with likeminded groups, says PPP Karachi leader Rashid Rabbani. According to him, the main allied groups in the LB election are Al-Khidmat, Insaan Dost, Al-Khadim, and Khidmatgar and the towns concerned are Bin Qasim, Malir, Site, Keamari, Saddar, Jamshed, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Korangi and Orangi.
The Watan Nawaz and Khidmatgar groups have also fielded a good number of candidates. The Watan Nawaz group sources told Dawn that in 16 panels, it has joined hands with the Insaan Dost Group. According to Sindh PML-N’s chief organizer Mamnoon Hussain, the group has fielded 52 panels 40 per cent of which have been formed in collaboration with the Al-Khidmat Group. He says that it has also fielded over 800 councillors while on 350 seats of councillors, it has made adjustments with the Awam Dost and other likeminded groups, mainly the UCs of Jamshed, Site, Baldia, Landhi, Keamari and North Karachi towns.
The Insaan Dost Group, according to Qari Mohammad Osman, has fielded 50 panels of nazim/naib nazim, as well as 300 councillors, in understanding and adjustments with the Khidmatgar and Al-Khidmat groups. On some of the seats, it has made adjustments with the PPP, PML-N, and Latif Butt groups also. Most of the UCs where it has fielded candidates are in Jamshed, Landhi, Bin Qasim, Malir, Lyari, Gadap and Saddar towns.
The Al-Khadim Group has fielded 30 panels with the cooperation of Al-Khidmat, Awam Dost, Insaan Dost, Sunni Tehrik and Watan Nawaz groups and fielded 300 candidates for the post of councillors in the UCs of Liaquatabad, Landhi, Korangi, Malir, New Karachi, Saddar and Lyari.
The Insaaf Pasand Group has fielded 30 panels of nazim/naib nazim and 350 councillors in collaboration mainly with the groups backed by PML-N, Jamaat-i-Islami, PPP and Sunni Tehrik. PTI Sindh chief Zubair Khan says that the Insaaf Pasand panels and councillors have been contesting mostly in UCs of Keamari, Baldia, Shah Faisal, Site, Bin Qasim, Liaquatabad and Landhi towns.
