Victories in by-polls

Candidates of Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) emerged victorious in by-elections in PS-144 Karachi and by-election of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly GBLA-5 on Sunday.
PPP candidate Saeed Ghani won the by-election in PS-114, Karachi, by securing 23,840 votes on Sunday. According to unofficial results, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Kamran Tessori remained at the second spot with 18,106 votes. There were a total of 193,000 registered voters in the constituency. PML-N’s Ali Akbar Gujjar and PTI’s Muhammad Najeeb Haroon got 5,353 and 5,098 votes, respectively. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari both congratulated Ghani on his victory. The seat had been won by the MQM in 1990, 1993 and 2008 elections. Irfanullah Marwat won it in 2013. Marwat’s victory was later declared void by the ECP in 2014. His appeal against the decision was rejected in 2017 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
PPP candidate Javed Hussain won a by-election of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on Sunday. According unofficial results, the PPP candidate won the election for the GBLA-5 constituency Nagar by securing 6,888.
Bilawal while congratulating his party members said that PPP shall will all over the country in 2018. He said that victories of PPP candidates from Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan were the real change that the people of Pakistan wanted. “By-elections in Karachi and Gilgit Baltistan are just an indicator of entire country’s aspirations,” he said.
Indeed it was a massive day for PPP, as party bagged two seats in by-elections, particularly at a time when some senior stalwarts of the party have said goodbye in a bid to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. Only time will prove that how crucial these victories are in order to convince the suspicious party members to remain loyal with the party. If PPP wants to make an impact in the next general elections, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari needs to call the shots and must come out from under the shadow of his father. Many appreciate the political wisdom of Asif Ali Zardari, but reality is, under him PPP has become a regional party.
Recent victories are pleasant development for PPP, particularly at a time when senior leaders are joining other parties.