He said that his party would also start exerting pressure on the federal government for a neutral caretaker setup in the Centre, comprising credible and impartial people. Zaidi said that transparent elections is the only solution to overcoming the challenges being confronted by the country, and that is possible only if drastic election reforms are introduced before the elections.
"Our stance on the issue is very clear as we want transparent elections, but if the government goes ahead with the elections without paying heed to our demands, we will be left with no choice but to take to the streets," he said. He said that a judicial commission on the electoral rigging has already highlighted flaws of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in its detailed report, but neither the government nor the ECP has, so far, moved to fix them.
A spokesperson for Pak Sarzameen Party, Iftikhar Alam, said that the PPP government in Sindh has ruined the province and failed to address genuine grievances of the people. "As the citizens of the province are looking towards the PSP as an alternative to the PPP, we are launching a movement against it from April 6," he said. To a question, he said that the PSP has emerged as a genuine stakeholder in Sindh and it was reflected by the participation of people in the party's public rallies.
"The upcoming caretaker setup in Sindh should be finalised through consultation with the party," he opined, saying that as per the constitution, the sitting government forms the caretaker setup through consultation with the opposition leader in the centre and provinces.
MQM-Pakistan currently holds the position of Leader of the Opposition so it will have a say in the caretaker setup. The party also insists that it would retain its position in Karachi and Hyderabad in the 2018 general elections and does not foresee any impact on the popularity after its split with the party's founder, while the PPP stalwarts claim that MQM-London, Karachi and PSP would merge before the elections.
MQM leader Aminul Haq said that it is an established fact in Sindh that the MQM is the strongest urban political force and neither the PSP nor the PPP can challenge its mandate. "Despite all the ups and downs, we have swept almost all by-elections in Karachi and are ready to play our part in formation of a neutral caretaker setup in the province," he said. However all the bye-elections pre-date the party split.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have 16 seats each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while the ruling PTI is leading with 60 seats and its coalition partner Jamaat Islami has seven seats. Awami National Party and PPP had a coalition government in the province from 2008 to 2013, but were left with only five and six seats, respectively, in the 2013 elections.
A political analyst, Rasul Bukhsh Rais, told Business Recorder that stakes of both the PPP and the PML-N are high and they both will try to influence institutions like the ECP to win the next elections. "PTI and PSP have emerged as strong contenders in Punjab and Sindh, respectively, but constitutionally they have no role in the formation of the caretaker setup in the centre though the PTI has a role in Punjab, while the MQM-Pakistan has a role in Sindh," he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017