ISLAMABAD     -    Pakistan People’s Party yesterday alleged that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan supports instability and divide in the country as he lacks public backing.

Speaking at a joint news conference here, PPP leaders Shazia Marri and Faisal Kundi said that the PTI had lost the Local Government elections as the party lacked public support. Shazia Marri, who is also the Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation, said that the PTI should understand that elections cannot be won by surveys. “Elections are fought on the ground. The intelligent people of Karachi Hyderabad exercised their right to vote. If people don’t vote for them, what can we do,” she added.

Marri said if the people vote for him, “they say the people have gained awareness and if they vote against them, they say the people are ignorant.”

She reminded that in the general elections, the results of Karachi had come three days later. She said during Imran Khan’s government, “the world did not take us seriously. Now the world is talking to us and wants to talk.” Marri said due to flood, people were suffering in most parts of Sindh. “People’s houses are still not built, people are in trouble. We went to the elections despite reservations. The PPP had expressed concerns regarding the election due to floods,” she added.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State and Spokesperson of the PPP Faisal Karim Kundi said just showing an injured leg does not attract voters.

“You get votes by sharing in people’s suffering. The PPP has become a major party in Karachi. We have to share in the pain and suffering of the people who trusted and voted for us,” he said.

He said victory in Karachi polls was the result of PPP’s hard work. “Today, the PPP slapped the faces of 14 MNAs (PTI Members of the National Assembly) who were selected through rigging from Karachi,” he maintained.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that has gone bankrupt where the PTI ruled for ten years.  “Just as the people of Hyderabad and Karachi changed from you, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will change from PTI,” he predicted.