KARACHI: The main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), on Saturday accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of approaching its councillors-elect in a bid to establish its “fake majority” for the upcoming election of Karachi mayor.

The party warned the ruling party in Sindh that any horse-trading attempt would lead to a strong reaction.

The newly-appointed party leadership for Karachi also announced to boost their activities in the city in line with the preparation for the upcoming general elections that they believed would reinforce the PTI’s majority mandate in the metropolis.

“PPP has been approaching our members-elect [of LG system] to buy their loyalty,” said PTI Karachi president Aftab Siddiqi while addressing a press conference here. “Let me remind the PPP leadership that we won’t allow them to repeat the episode of Sindh House [in Islamabad which led to a vote of no confidence against the then prime minister Imran Khan in April 2022]. This must stop.”

He alleged that the PPP had won majority seats through rigging and manoeuvring and it “is now up to its traditional corrupt practices to win Karachi mayor election”.

Mr Siddiqi said that the PTI had already challenged over a dozen results of Jan 15 elections and it had all legal and documentary evidence that suggested his party had won those union committees.

He also criticised the Jamaat-i-Islami and accused the right-wing party of conniving with the ruling PPP for power sharing and targeting the PTI for its vested political interests.

“We haven’t decided yet about our status in the upcoming local government system in Karachi,” Mr Siddiqi replied to a question. “But if the JI wants to make an alliance with us to bring its mayor... then it has to make its position clear. The hypocrisy wouldn’t work. On one hand, it holds talks with the PPP government to reach agreement over LG system and on the other it cries about wrongdoings of the provincial government.”

PTI’s Karachi chapter general secretary Arsalan Ghumman berated Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon for “abusing” his party leadership and accused him of running a “corruption racket” at the key provincial department.

“It’s not very long ago when Sharjeel Memon’s close aides and Sindh government officers were caught in corruption cases and three of them were released after making plea bargain with NAB,” he said. “The minister himself is facing Rs5bn corruption references and today he’s schooling us about democracy, patriotism and Constitution. He’s a part of that mafia that has ruined Sindh and its people.”

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2023