Mirza Family Likely To Join PTI

Former National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza, who developed differences with PPP, and her husband and firebrand former PPP leader Zulfiqar Mirza are likely to join Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf soon.

The joining could be a major setback for the PPP in District Badin of the province, where the Mirza family had a stronghold and had given tough times to their former party during the last held union council elections.

 

Source privy to contacts between the Mirza family and PTI chairman Imran Khan said that the matters between them are resolved and they would announce their joining in the next visit of PTI Chairman Imran Khan to Sindh province.

It is pertinent to mention here that PTI chairman would be visiting the Sindh province next month. The sources further said that Imran Khan and Mirza had met each other in Karachi few days back and discussed the matters needed to be sorted out including Mirza family’s role in PTI’s Sindh politics.Fehmida Mirza Profile:

Fehmida Mirza was the first woman to be elected the Speaker of the National Assembly on 19 March 2008 and belongs to an influential political family of Sindh.

She joined PPP in 1997 and was since then elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan for four times consecutively in 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2013 from Badin constituency.

She developed differences with the party three years back when the PPP led-Sindh government tried to arrest Zulfiqar Mirza from his residence in Badin and although did not officially left the party but developed serious differences. Zulfiqar Mirza:

Zulfiqar Mirza was a trusted lieutenant of former President Asif Ali Zardari since they both acquired education from Cadet College Petaro in the late 1960s.

He was assigned the portfolio of Jails and prisons, as well as the portfolio of Senior Minister for Works, Services and Forest in the Sindh cabinet during different PPP provincial government tenures. He remained a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, and a member of the PPP Central Executive Committee, and Vice President of PPP (Sindh) till 28, August 2011.

He left the party in 2011 after developing differences with party leadership over action against Lyari Aman Committee and its kingpin Uzair Baloch, whom Mirza called his child.

Mirza, however said that he had only raised the voice over the rampant corruption in different departments of the province and against the disgraceful demand of MQM regarding the dissection of Sindh, the motherland.