ISLAMABAD: Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who is contesting forthcoming general elections from two Islamabad constituencies of the National Assembly, is hopeful that this time people will vote on the basis of ideology instead of their political tilt.

Mustafa Khokhar filed his nomination papers for the two constituencies of the federal capital: NA-47 (Islamabad II) and NA-48 (Islamabad III) and kicked off his election campaign by holding corner meetings to attract voters.

“I believe that this time people will vote on the basis of ideology and not on their political liking and disliking,” Mr Khokhar told Dawn on Sunday. “Now people are fed up with power politics and mainstream political parties, who have left behind a baggage of unprecedented inflation and high energy tariffs in the country,” he added.

He was of the view that although the pre-polls environment has already become controversial as one of the political parties has been cornered while extraordinary facilities are being provided to another; people will decide who will win the polls.

The ex-senator believed the ideology he has been pursuing for the last one-and-a-half years would definitely help him secure majority votes in his constituencies.

Mr Khokhar, who has a large number of votes in his Kohokhar clan in the federal capital, said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is in shambles these days, which meant he has bright chances to win elections on both seats of the National Assembly.

He said, “People are fed up with old faces in politics and power politics because not a single mainstream party has so far presented their manifesto for the upcoming polls.”

Responding to a question about the huge amount of money spent on election campaigns by the candidates, he agreed that the trend should change, and for that purpose, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) must play its role and impose restrictions regarding the use of funds by the candidates. He said he was convinced that all institutions should work within their constitutional parameters and fulfil their responsibilities.

About his future plans, he said the lack of a proper LG system in Islamabad was one of the reasons for poor civic services in remote and far-flung areas of the capital, therefore he wanted to put in place an effective LG system here. He said the unequal distribution of funds by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in urban and remote areas should be checked and added that if he wins the polls, he will try to ratify the practice. According to the former senator, the CDA is used to selling plots worth billions of rupees after short intervals, but nobody knows where the money goes.

Earlier this year, along with former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail, Mr Khokhar held a series of seminars dubbed ‘Reimaging Pakistan’ to highlight the country’s current challenges and develop a consensus on the future course of action required by all stakeholders. However, he shelved a plan to announce his party and said he did not want it to be tagged as a “pro-establishment” party.

Mr Khokhar entered formal politics two decades ago and was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as a candidate of the PPP on a general seat from Sindh in the 2018 Senate election. On March 12, 2018, he took the oath as a senator. He was a close aide of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, but left the party last year, citing personal reasons.

He took notice of rights violations across the country during his stint as the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on human rights.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023