KARACHI: The nomination papers of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Pakistan candidate Mustafa Kamal has been accepted for by-election to NA-256 constituency.
Later, talking to the media persons Mustafa Kamal stated that that if PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan reconciled with the current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, problems of the country will be resolved. “Country’s economy is deteriorating due to political turmoil”, he added.
Responding a question regarding the MQM-Pakistan sit-in, he said demands had been discussed with the sitting government and there was no response yet. Answering another question, he stated that the Sindh governor through an ordinance should end the division of Hyderabad so that a city mayor can be elected from Hyderabad city.
It was worth mentioned here that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated that it had received 189 nomination papers for the nine National Assembly seats on which by-elections will take place in Karachi on March 16.
From the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar, Dr Sagheer Ahmed and Rauf Siddiqui submitted their nomination papers. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Ali Haider Zaidi, Saifur Rehman, Attaullah, Aslam Khan, Najeeb Haroon, Aftab Jahangir and Alamgir Khan submitted their papers. From the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Shehla Raza, Shahida Rehmani, Iqbal Sandh, Asad Alam Niazi and Khawaja Sohail are prominent candidates.
According to the ECP, 24 candidates filed nominations papers in NA-241, 19 in NA 242, 17 in NA-243, 19 in NA-244, 24 in NA-247, 19 in NA-250, 24 in NA-252, 23 in NA-254, and 19 nominations papers were received in NA-256.
As per the schedule, the list of candidates will be released on February 9. The documents will be examined till February 13, and objections can be submitted against the acceptance or rejection of the nomination papers till February 16. The deadline for decisions on these objections is set as February 20. The revised list of candidates will be released on February 21. Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers till February 22. Election symbols will be allotted on February 23 and polling will be held on March 16.
