KARACHI: Former National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza has announced that she will not contest the upcoming elections on the symbol of the Pakistan Peoples Party, nor will she seek a ticket from the party.
“I will not even apply for the ticket for a party which has diverged from its manifesto,” she said speaking to ARY News program 11th Hour on Thursday hosted by Waseem Badami.
When asked if the party leadership asked her to contest elections, Ms. Mirza said it was unlikely if she was not an aspirant and does not submit her application.
Decrying the apathetic condition of her home district Badin, she said that the injustices inflicted by the PPP on the district forced her to distance from the party.
When asked if she planned to leave the PPP, Ms. Mirza said that a party is known by their manifesto which forms the basis of their popularity and slogans, which is no longer the case for the PPP.
“Saying that I have left the PPP, I think there is no party as such, as it is devoid of the people whose conditions can be clearly seen,” she said.
Ms. Mirza said that she has criticised the PPP previously, and even raised her voice in the assembly for the truth and justice, while her ideology now is one which is of the people of Badin.
Raising apprehensions that the next elections may not be free and fair, she said that development works have increased pace as elections get closer and roads are being constructed.
However, she said the PPP failed to provide any relief in the last ten years, and hardly any funds were provided for Badin district in the last five.
She said that son, who is an MPA, was only allowed to address the assembly once in last five years, and received no funds for Badin district or any other benefits from the provincial government.
Ms. Mirza and her husband Zulfiqar Mirza, the firebrand former home minister, have distanced themselves after differences with the PPP leadership.
Zulfiqar Mirza has been part of the Grand Democratic Alliance, a coalition of nationalist and other parties opposed to the PPP. It is speculated if he would join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf after a recent meeting with Imran Khan.
