Karachi: MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has said that his party did not enter into a seat adjustment formula with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for National Assembly (NA) seat NA-242, where the former ruling party is fielding ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
He rejected the news report regarding the seat adjustment and said that MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Mustafa Kamal will contest election from NA-242.
Earlier, media reported that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has entered into a seat adjustment formula with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for three National Assembly (NA) seats, including NA-242, where the former ruling party is fielding ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif has been cleared by the election tribunal to contest upcoming general elections, slated to take place on February 8, from district Keamari of Karachi, which was once a stronghold of the MQM-P. On December 29, Shehbaz announced filing his nomination papers for the upcoming general elections from NA-242 where MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Mustafa Kamal had also filed their nominations.
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According to the sources, apart from Shehbaz, the PML-N will field its candidates on five National Assembly seats — including NA-229, 230, and 239 — besides 11 provincial assembly seats within these constituencies.
They further said that the MQM-P candidates would contest elections for the national and provincial assembly seats from NA-231 constituency (Malir). The Karachi-based party will field its candidates on the provincial assembly seats within the NA-242 constituency.
In 2018, Shehbaz had contested from NA-249 of Karachi and lost to the then-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda by a slight margin.
