Awami National Party (ANP) is preparing for a tough response over Chief Election Commissioner’s announcement regarding delimitation in Karachi, which includes parting ways with the PPP, The Nation has learnt.

The ANP insiders’ privy to the developments in the party about the delimitation issue told this correspondent on Wednesday that the party high command would exert pressure on the lead coalition party to direct the Election Commission to follow the Supreme Court directions to carry out the delimitation in Karachi and the PPP failed to do so, the ANP reserves the right to leave the PPP-led coalition.

They quoting senior party leaders as stating that ANP, which has major stakes on the political canvas of provincial capital of Sindh would not accept any decision, which could cut its growing size in Karachi. They informed that ANP was reaching out to likeminded forces for forging an alliance to build pressure for carrying out the delimitation in Karachi. The party insiders quoting the senior leadership said that PPP leadership had given everything away in the urban centres of Sindh in the name of so-called political expediency since the inception of its government. In this process,

PPP had lost many of its loyalists, besides political influence but despite these political realities, the PPP first tier leadership is still ready to go an extra-mile for a party of the urban Sindh. However the ANP would withdraw its support if the PPP would not express its readiness for delimitation in Karachi. Senator Shahi Syed, senior ANP leader when contacted said, “we have parted ways with the PPP once and we will not allow anyone to push us to the wall”. He informed: the ANP is gathering authentic information with proofs regarding the fake votes and will make public shocking revelations to the public through media soon. Shahi Syed said that evidence regarding the fake votes, which the ANP would make public and press for delimitation in Karachi.

He demanded equal oppurtunity of the ANP in the affairs of the government,stating that establishing unchallenged superiority of a single party in the provincial capital of Sindh could result in bloody polls. About the query to muster support of other forces over the issue, he said, “It is our political right and we will pursue it keeping in view the inaction of our lead coalition partner”. He maintained that voters’ verification process in Karachi would prove just an eyewash. Meanwhile, the PML-Q, another coalition partner of the PPP reacting to no delimitation in Karachi said that Chief Election Commissioner has committed contempt of court by refusing to carry out delimitation in Karachi.

Chaudhry Zaheer-ud-Din, Parliamentary party leader of the PML-Q in Punjab Assembly said, “the Chief Election Commissioner’s refusal to carry out delimitation in Karachi falls under contempt of court and it will give a wrong message to other State institutions”. He said that CEC announcement for not carrying out delimitation in Karachi has once again pressed the need for an independent Election Commission without which free and transparent polls could not be conducted.