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KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Mustafa Kamal has filed nomination papers to contest a by-poll on a National Assembly seat NA-249 in the metropolis.
According to details, the seat was left vacant due to the resignation of Minister for Water Resources Senator Faisal Vawda on March 02.
The PSP chairman while talking to the media today said, “I filed nomination papers for NA-249 by-election. Political parties that won seats from Karachi are unable to discern the issues facing the metropolis. The deprivations that Karachi faces today had never been witnessed in the past, he added.
Mustafa Kamal said that Karachi has no voice today as people present in Parliament have failed to raise the issues plaguing the city. “We will resolve the issues of Karachi if people give chance,” he claimed.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Miftah Ismail and Sindh president of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Nisar Khuhro have also received nomination papers.
NA-249 is considered to be the safest seat for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) from where its leader Dr Farooq Sattar thrice returned to the national assembly and twice returned to provincial assembly seats.
It is the only constituency in the defunct district south where the MQM-P continues to dominate the electoral scene since 1988, with an exception in 1993 when the party had boycotted the national assembly polls.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced a ban on transfers and postings of the government officials in the constituency, while the announcement of development schemes is also prohibited in line with the election policy.
The ECP has stated that the candidates can submit their nomination papers from March 13 to March 17, following which a final list of candidates will be displayed.
Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on March 25 while appeals against rejection or acceptance of papers could be filed on March 29 and a decision on these would be announced on April 6.
Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by April 7 and the election symbol will be allotted on April 8. Polling for the by-election will be held on April 29.
