The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has taken exception to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) supporting its rival candidate in the provincial by-election in Larkana, Sindh.
In a video message posted on the social media, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the president of the PPP in Sindh, asked the Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of the rightwing JUI-F, to clarify his position. “I am daring to ask this question,” Khuhro said, looking straight into the camera, “Are you with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)or against it?”
Rehman who has been excoriating the PTI, since it came to power in the country in 2018, will be marching to Islamabad on October 27 in a bid to remove the government from power. For which, the JUI-F has been looking to other opposition political parties, including the PPP, for support.
The PPP has till now remained noncommittal. While, it has agreed in principal to extend support to the anti-government march to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, it has nonetheless shied away from backing a sit-in to dislodge the ruling party.
Khuhro accuses Rehman of sending mixed signals, by taking on the PTI in the center, but openly supporting a PTI candidate in PPP’s home turf, Larkana. “Will they work differently in Sindh and in the center?” Khuhro asked in the video.
The by-polls in a provincial seat for Larkana will be held on October 17. There are a total of 152,614 voters in constituency.
In the polls, PPP’s candidate, Jameel Soomro, will face off against the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Larkana Awami Ittehad’s (LAI) joint candidate Moazim Ali Abbas, who has the support of the PTI and the JUI-F.
Abbas has won the provincial election in the 2018 ballot, but was disqualified later by the Supreme Court for failing to declare his financial assets.