PML-N's Miftah Ismail opposes postponement of NA-249 by-elections

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail has opposed the postponement of NA-249 by-elections in Karachi, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Miftah Ismail has written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in which he expressed his reservations over the expected postponement of the NA-249 Karachi by-polls.

He stated in his letter that the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has lost expectations of an electoral victory, whereas, promises are being made for launching development projects including water pipelines in the constituency.

Ismail criticised that the election commission has turned a blind eye over the illegal actions. He added that ECP has already made enough expenditures from the national exchequer for organising the by-polls.

Read: PTI demands ECP to reschedule NA-249 by-polls, deploy armed forces

The PML-N candidate continued that the request made by the Sindh government for postponing the by-election due to the COVID-19 pandemic has no ground as the situation of Karachi’s West District in term of the pandemic was quite better as compared to the other parts of the metropolis.

Miftah Ismail asked the election commission for the timely organisation of the by-elections.

On April 19, the Sindh government had formally requested the Election Commission of Pakistan to postpone the by-election for National Assembly constituency NA-249 Karachi that is likely to be held on April 29.

Read: ECP serves warning to Miftah Ismail on Maryam Nawaz’s NA-249 visit

In a letter to the ECP, the Sindh government had urged the election body to postpone the scheduled by-poll in the concurrency until the coronavirus pandemic was brought under control.

The country was facing the third wave of the pandemic and COVID-19 cases rose by over seven per cent in Karachi and Hyderabad during the past week, read the letter.

The NA-249 seat had fallen vacant after Faisal Vawda of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) resigned from the National Assembly for his Senate seat. In the 2018 general elections, Vawda had defeated PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif in the constituency with a narrow margin.