LARKANA: Three Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-backed union council chairmen and one candidate from the Larkana Awami Ittehad have filed their nomination papers with the returning officer (additional deputy commissioner-I) on Tuesday for the slot of Larkana mayor.

The seat has fallen vacant after Mohammed Aslam Shaikh tendered his resignation as the Larkana mayor on May 10.

As the last date for the filing of nomination papers drew closer, PPP Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro visited Larkana and held consultations with local party leaders on the election, scheduled to be held on July 10.

The slot is very important from the point of view of the PPP and it does matter for its chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who is a member of the National Assembly from Larkana.

Party sources said that Mr Khuhro along with the district and taluka presidents interviewed the aspirants — Khair Mohammed Shaikh, the party’s Larkana district general secretary; chairmen of UC-17 Aftab Bhutto, UC-12 Mohammed Ali Memon and UC-8 Ghulam Asghar Khichi; and acting Larkana Mayor Anwar Luhar for the slot.

On Tuesday, the party finally nominated Khair Mohammed Shaikh as its candidate for the seat. Shakeel Memon, Mr Khuhro’s spokesman, confirmed this when approached in the evening.

The sources said that the name was finalised after Mr Khuhro consulted party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and shared his opinion with him in the backdrop of the interviews with the aspirants.

Earlier the acting mayor, Anwer Luhar, was believed to be the leading candidate, but this was not to be. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in its notification dated May 29 announced the election schedule under sub-section (1) of section 34 and sub-section (8) of section 18 of the Sindh Local Government Act-2013 read with sub-rule (1) of rule-12 of the Sindh Local Councils (Election).

Even then the aspirants covertly and overtly continued manoeuvring to muster party leadership’s favour. They were seen trying to conv­ince chairmen of different union councils on their candidature.

On Tuesday (June 18), the last date for the filing of nomination papers, only three PPP-backed candidates — Khair Mohammed Shaikh, Mohammed Ali Memon and Aftab Bhutto — submitted their forms to contest for the seat. Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI) candidate Rafi Abbasi, who is chairman of UC-2, appeared to be the candidate to stand against the final PPP candidate.

LAI convener Haji Munawwar Abbasi and Faisal Abbasi, the son of a former mayor Qurban Ali Abbasi, accompanied Rafi Abbasi while he filed his nomination papers with the returning officer. According to the schedule, the polling would be held on July 10 and the results would be announced the next day.

With a cursory eye on the present position of the council of Larkana Municipal Corporation, one can see that it consists of 30 members and PPP enjoys a majority in the house.

Nineteen of the elected chairmen support PPP while the opposition — mainly the LAI — has the support of five elected chairmen.

Since the election for the house, PPP has lost four members. Amir Bakhsh Gaad died and Kalpana Devi joined the judiciary. Two other members opted for government jobs.

The former mayor’s resignation and the reasons behind it will definitely play a role in the election for the slot. The memories of a boycott of the April 22 proceedings of the LMC are still fresh as the protest was reportedly led by Khair Mohammed Shaikh, Tarique Nazeer Shaikh and many other PPP members. The session was being presided over by former mayor Aslam Shaikh. PPP’s nominee Khair Mohammed Shaikh may have to ease the situation by dispelling the bitterness of that episode.

The general impression among members particularly and the PPP cadre generally is that the party leadership had unseated a leader belonging to the Shaikh community and replaced it with another member of the same community making all stakeholders to believe that Shaikhs wield a decisive influence in the election and in the city and, as such, PPP cannot afford to ignore them.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2019