KARACHI: The ruling PPP appears to be in a strong position in the eight districts of upper Sindh where polling for the first phase of local government elections is being held on Saturday (today) after a gap of around 10 years.

The districts — Larkana, Shikar­pur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Ghotki and Khairpur — fall within the territorial jurisdiction of Larkana and Sukkur divisions. Polling will start at 7.30am and continue till 5.30pm without any break.

With the traditional election symbol of ‘arrow’, PPP candidates are going to face rivals belonging to the PML-Functional, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Jamaat-i-Islami, Sindh United Party (SUP) and an alliance of several parties called the Larkana Awami Ittehad.

Also read: PPP accused of fanning tribal disputes ahead of LG polls

The usual election festivity was missing as uncertainty prevailed since the announcement of the election schedule as parties and voters were not sure whether the local government elections would be held or not.

The last LG polls were held during the era of Gen Pervez Musharraf in 2005.

Being the ruling party, the PPP holds sway over the local administration and police and it is being accused of misusing its power to harass its opponents.

Sons of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Senator Islamuddin Shaikh, Sindh LG Minister Nasir Shah in Sukkur, and a daughter of Senior Sindh Minister Nisar Khuhro in Larkana have been elected unopposed.

Qaumi Awami Tehreek leader Ayaz Latif Palijo appeared to make a realistic assessment when asked about the chances of the success of the ‘anti-PPP forces’ in the LG polls.

“It will be a big achievement if we or any other lower middle class representative, collectively, achieve 10 per cent success in the polls. It is in fact a test of the people of Sindh who cannot say now that they vote for the PPP because there is no alternative. There is an alternative [to the PPP] in the form of the PML-F, QAT or any other force,” said Mr Palijo.

Analyst Inamullah Sheikh also sees no major opposition to the PPP, as he says barring a few pockets of upper Sindh, the ruling party is set to make major gains.

“Religious and nationalist parties are in the race too, but they are not going to upset the apple cart on the whole. The JUI-F, surprisingly, appears to be the second party after the PPP in upper Sindh as PML-N remains least interested in Sindh,” he says.

Mr Shaikh feels that the Larkana Awami Ittehad would give a tough time to the PPP in its stronghold.

While security has been tightened to ward off any untoward incident as well as poll-related violence, it is expected that polling would be held in a peaceful environment in the eight districts.

However, a charged atmosphere has been created in some constituencies from where a brother/son/nephew of any influential politician, whether in the government or in the opposition, is contesting.

The likely troubled constituencies are Taluka Nara and Kingri of Khairpur district, where the local administration also called army in addition to police and Rangers for maintaining peace.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also arrived in Naudero on Friday to cast his vote.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2015

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