KARACHI: Differences are appearing within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over its candidate for Karachi mayor, with one aspirant warning the party of consequences if he is not considered.
PTI Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi has sent a letter to the Central Parliamentary Board of the party to nominate either Muhammad Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi or Khurram Sher Zaman as a candidate for the Mayor of Karachi.
Zaman is currently the leader of the parliamentary party in the Sindh Assembly, while Qureshi is one of the founding members of the PTI. The latter, however, is unwilling to work with Zaman if he is nominated for the mayorship of Karachi.
On December 13, Zaidi also informed PTI Chairman Imran Khan in his letter that senior member Firdous Shamim Naqvi was withdrawing his nomination for the mayoral candidacy. The letter states that the party now has two hopefuls in the race – Qureshi and Zaman.
“If the party wants to look for more candidates, we will have to wait until the election to choose one of the reserved seats for labour, women, minorities or youth,” Zaidi said.
Local body elections are now scheduled to be held on January 15, 2023 after being delayed three times.
Zaidi has requested the PTI board to take a decision as soon as possible so that they can announce the final candidate and resume their election campaign.
For the past two months, the party had been holding rallies and public meetings in Karachi focusing on issues related to national-level politics. However, the party has not yet started its election campaign for the local body elections.
Zaman confirmed to JEE News that three names – along with those of Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Mohammad Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi – have been sent to the Central Parliamentary Board.
“The party will decide the final name of the candidate, and whatever the party decides, I will gladly accept it,” the MPA said.
In response to a question, Zaman said that he has been highlighting the problems faced by the people of Karachi and if he is elected mayor, he will work together with other political parties to solve the problems.
However, he said that he is also ready to support Qureshi.
“We are party mates. We have to work to win the mayorship of Karachi. It is not right to fight within the party. All differences can be resolved after the LG wins the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the publication that some people within the PTI aspire to become the Prime Minister instead of seeing Imran Khan on the seat and they want to stay associated with the PTI and hold high positions.
“One thing I want to make clear; if my name is excluded, the party will suffer a huge loss in the upcoming municipal elections in Karachi.
Qureshi said that a group of opportunists have imposed on the PTI, and they want to divert the party from the right path and are taking advantage of Khan’s involvement in national politics.
If Zaman’s name is finalized for the mayorship, rival parties will use his name against the PTI saying that he is not a local resident of Karachi.
He said that PTI will also lose its vote bank in Urdu speaking areas.
“I was assured by PTI Sindh president Ali Haider Zaidi that the party would nominate me as the mayoral candidate. That is why I accepted the offer and started campaigning. Now it is beyond comprehension that Zaman Why is there so much interest in becoming a candidate for mayor,” he said.
Qureshi warned that if my candidature for mayor of Karachi is not accepted, I will not support any election campaign of PTI in the upcoming local elections.
