KARACHI, Aug 25: Sindhi Nationalist parties and groups have decided to stay away from the electoral scene as they believe the forthcoming October polls are being held to legitimise the army rule.

The decision was taken by the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONAM) at a meeting held in Hyderabad with Sindh PONAM chief Dr Qadir Magsi in the chair.

The Sindh chapter of PONAM comprises the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party of Dr Qadir Magsi and factions of the Jeay Sindh Movement. The other component parties of PONAM are actively participating in the Oct polls in Balochistan and the Awami National Party of Khan Abdul Wali Khan and the National Awami Party Pakistan of Ajmal Khatak are contesting the polls on limited seats in Karachi and Hyderabad.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s ally, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Party, has announced to boycott the polls. The high-powered policy making body of the Jeay Sindh Mahaz headed by Abdul Khalique Junejo, declared that “the present government has planned to impose a unitary form of presidential system on the country by holding elections under the guise of new constitutional reforms.”

The JSM’s central committee in a resolution at a meeting said the idea behind the reforms was to pave the way for dictatorship in the name of democracy.

According to some observers, the decision by the nationalist parties to boycott the elections in Sindh would help the PPP to dominate the field in the rural areas of Sindh. The party will now be facing the MQM, the pro-government Sindh Democratic Alliance (SDA) and the National Alliance headed by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi in the rural Sindh.

The Muttahida has already announced to put up Sindhi candidates in rural Sindh. In the urban areas both the PPP and the MQM will face a tough fight from religious parties. The STPP and the Jeay Sindh Mahaz have limited support in Sindhi and Baloch localities of the city.

The PPP will not face any nationalist challenge in Lyari which has been the hub of their activities in the past. A split in the Baloch nationalist camp has changed the political situation in the locality. The PPP now has to face the PML-N and the SDA.