PTI to sweep polls

An interview with PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman

Q. Has the MQM-P run away from the local government elections?

Khurrum Sher Zaman: Yes.This is a Majboor Qaumi Movement which has run away from LG polls because it has filed 52 per cent nominations and It has no representatives over 80 Union Committees (UCs) as candidates do not want to contest elections on tickets of MQM-P.

You know MQM-P, PSP and Dr Farooq Sattar jointly could not get as many vote as our PTI candidate Mehmood Maulvi got in the last by-elections of Karachi’s NA-245.

MQM-P has no proper or qualified candidates for elections. If it contested the elections on all seats,it could hardly win 3-5 per cent seats. It could not bring its mayor to Karachi. It has no option left but to get the LG polls deferred, either by hook or by crook. And that is why it is putting up such a Tamasha these days.

Q. What is your strategy after the postponement of the LG polls. Will you be going to court?

KSZ: We are a democratic party so we have three options; we will file a petition in the court of law against the cancellation of LG polls, we will protest on the floor of the Sindh Assembly and move the people against this dastardly act of the MQM and the PPP.. Right now, we are protesting outside the Sindh Assembly.

Q. What are the chances of the PTI sweeping the local bodies elections?

KSZ: Of all the contestant parties, the PTI has filed the most nominations, and will therefore win a vast majority of seats. Our major contestant, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) could not file as many nominations, while the PPP has no traditional vote bank in Karachi and can only flex its muscles in a few given localities.

Q. Will the PTI ally with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to ensure a decisive win in these elections?

KSZ: No, not at all. PTI has won hearts of the people and is the most popular party in the country at this time. We expect to win a large number of seats, and we are not looking for any alliances to achieve that end. PTI chief, Imran Khan, will choose the next mayor of Karachi. After winning elections, we plan to prioritize deliverance of basic services such as pure drinking water, improve sanitation in accordance with international standards, set up a modern urban transport system, control the traffic mess and street crimes, and plant trees across vast spaces to control atmospheric pollution.

Q. PTI Sindh president, Ali Zaidi, had recently expressed suspicions that the PPP and MQM-P may rig the elections. What will be your strategy in such an eventuality?

KSZ: That is why we have demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deploy personnel of the Pakistan Army and the Rangers both within and outside of all the polling stations so that the elections could be held in a free, fair and transparent manner. This arrangement was made in the 2018 general elections, and as a result those elections remained totally peaceful. If the army is not deployed, there is a 100 per cent chance that elections will be rigged.

Q. Are you sure the elections will be held on 15 January, given the fact that they have been postponed a number of times in recent months?

KSZ: This time the elections will be held on schedule. If excuses for a further delay come to the fore, we will approach the Sindh High Court.

Q. What in your opinion is the solution to economic and political crises being faced by the country?

KSZ: Holding general elections is the only way forward. It will resolve the political riddles, and once the PTI has won, the countrymen will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. General elections are what the people want, and they should be held soon after the local bodies polls are over.