JUP to support PPP’s Ghani in by-polls

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) has decided that it will support the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Senator Saeed Ghani in the PS-114 (Karachi-XXVI) by-elections scheduled for July 9.

The announcement was made on Saturday by JUP Central General Secretary Shah Owais Noorani during a news conference in which Ghani was also present. The JUP leader said that those who had virtually occupied the metropolis since the past 26 years were being asked by the people why they had destroyed their city. He said the city was gifted with dead bodies during the tenure of a governor affiliated with that party.

Noorani said the political forces that had destroyed the city’s peace by politicking on the basis of ethnicity and language had once again become active to seek votes from the people. He said the political mandate of the city used to be with the PPP and some religio-political parties, including the JUP, but it had been wrested from them by violent forces.

The JUP leader said the candidates who had earlier won the PS-114 seat had not served the people of the constituency as several criminal activities were under way there. He said his party had decided to support the PPP’s candidate because he represented the poor and middle-class communities.

Senator Ghani told the news conference that on July 9 the people of the city would reject the other candidates, who represented thieves, robbers and terrorists. He said the other political parties had fielded such affluent candidates against him who had been constantly spending money on the election campaign, but the PPP believed in serving the masses.

The senator rejected the allegation that the PPP had been using the Sindh government’s resources for the party’s election campaign. “Those levelling such allegations have been using the Governor House and the city mayor and deputy mayor for the election campaign.”

The PPP leader said that no minister or adviser of the provincial administration accompanied him in the constituency for the election campaign, adding that development projects were under way in PS-114 with the funds reserved by the government in the previous financial year.