Re: Supreme Court links MQM to majority of Karachi killings
The future of Dr.Mirza’s and his family is bright. :biggthumb:
** Mirza’s dashing son to replace father **
After the announcement by the firebrand PPP leader Zulfiqar Mirza to quit electoral politics, speculation is already rife that his dashing young son — Barrister Hasnain Mirza — will replace his father in the upcoming by-polls to the Badin provincial assembly seat which fell vacant after Mirza’s resignation as an MPA was accepted on Monday.
Only a day earlier, Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro accepted the former home minister’s resignation as a member of the provincial assembly.
Hasnain geared up his efforts for rehabilitation of flood victims in his hometown of Badin last month, after his father’s thunderous press conference at the Karachi Press Club.
It seems he has already practically ventured into politics and a formal announcement is expected soon.
A journalist who covered rains devastation in Badin told The News that Hasnain seemed to be in charge of the relief activities for displaced persons in the district.
Journalists covering the dinner-cum-media chat of Zulfiqar Mirza at his residence on Monday could not help but notice Hasnain’s conspicuous attempt to meet every media person individually.
A local journalist in Badin told The News there was every likelihood that Hasnain would contest the upcoming by-polls. “His rival candidate would be PML-Q’s Pappu Shah,” he added.
According to him, the PPP has always found it difficult to compete on this constituency as a significant number of its voters belong to PML-F and PML-Q. Last time, Pappu Shah won this seat of Tando Bago because the PML-F supported him.
However, Provincial Election Commissioner Sono Khan Baloch told The News that his office had not received a notification from the Sindh Assembly secretariat to vacate the seat of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza on PS-57 in Badin.
He said that a decision about announcing the date of by-polls on Mirza’s constituency would be made after assessing the situation as Tando Bago was still inundated by rainwater.
A political observer also believed that Hasnain was being projected as the new face of Mirza family in Sindh’s politics.
Also, many PPP leaders, during private and public discussions, were of the view that Hasnain’s venture into politics would boast the ruling PPP’s image.
**
Meanwhile, Zulfiqar Mirza has been successful in garnering support from PPP MNAs over his stand on the local government system and other issues. Dr Nasrullah Baloch, an MPA from Sukkur and a close relative of Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah, arranged a late-night meeting on Monday which was attended by Mirza and 12 other PPP MPAs, including Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. **
Although Baloch denied that any meeting took place, saying that he had simply hosted a dinner for the speaker Sindh Assembly, rumours are ripe that a forward PPP bloc is in the making.
The central PPP leader have reportedly expressed displeasure over the late-night gathering while a private TV channel reported that Khurshid Shah has been scolded by the top party brass for letting his residence to be used for such activities.
Besides, around 12 MPAs and three provincial ministers reportedly called on Mirza at his residence on Tuesday. One participant, MPA Imran Zafar Leghari, said that they often visited Mirza, so there was nothing suspicious about it. He claimed that all PPP MPAs would oppose the revival of the Musharraf-era LG system.