10 politicians who have switched loyalties a time too many

Dawn.com looks at candidates contesting the February 8 polls who have switched parties at least three times since 2008.

In the highly volatile and ever evolving world of Pakistani politics, it is not unheard of for politicians to switch allegiance.

The friends of yesterday can be foes today before giving friendship another shot some time tomorrow — if the politics of it all makes sense.

In the list below, we have identified 10 such politicians who have switched their parties multiple times over their careers, just to give themselves a better chance of having electoral success.

Let’s take a look.

Faisal Saleh Hayat

PPP ➡ PML-Q ➡ PPP ➡ PML-N

Faisal Saleh Hayat speaks to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif. — via X/pmln_org

Brought into politics by former president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Faisal Saleh Hayat has had a complicated relationship with the PPP, which he first quit during the Musharraf regime.

The former interior minister set up his own faction named PPP-Patriots and later joined the PML-Q, returning to the National Assembly in 2008 from NA-88 (Jhang-III).

Hayat then quit the PML-Q as well before the 2013 polls, opting to contest as an independent candidate. He went on to rejoin the PPP in 2017 and obtained the party’s ticket for NA-114 (Jhang-I) in the 2018 elections.

However, he will be contesting the upcoming polls from NA-108 (Jhang-I) after switching allegiances yet again — this time to the PML-N.

Firdous Ashiq Awan

PML-Q ➡ PPP ➡ PTI ➡ IPP

Firdous Ashiq Awan. — via X/Dr_FirdousAwan

Firdous Ashiq Awan started her political career with the PML-Q but switched to the PPP just before the 2008 elections, contesting on the party’s ticket that year as well as in 2013.

She joined the PTI in 2017, competing the 2018 elections on her new party’s ticket but lost to PML-N’s Chaudhry Armughan.

In the upcoming polls, the former federal minister will be vying for the NA-70 (Sialkot-I) seat as part of Jahangir Tareen’s newcomer Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).

Jamshaid Ahmad Dasti

PPP ➡ Independent ➡ PARP + PTI

Jamshaid Ahmad Dasti. — via X/@jamshaidAdasti

Jamshaid Ahmad Dasti was first elected to the lower house in 2008 on a PPP ticket from NA-178 (Muzaffargarh-III).

The former MNA contested the 2013 polls as an independent candidate, emerging victorious from Muzaffargarh’s NA-177 and NA-178. He then joined the PML-N soon after the elections but the party leadership refused to accept him, leading to him form his own party named Pakistan Awami Raj Party.

He took part in the 2018 elections as his own party’s candidate from NA-182 (Muzaffargarh-III) but lost to PPP’s Mahar Irshad.

In March last year, he merged his party with the PTI, and will be contesting the February 8 polls from Muzaffargarh’s NA-175, NA-176, PP-269, and PP-271.

Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bukhari

Independent ➡ PML-N ➡ PPP ➡ JUI-F

Haroon Sultan Bukhari— Facebook/sainharoonbukhari

During the 2008 elections, Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bukhari was elected to the Punjab Assembly from PP-258 (Muzaffargarh-VIII) as an independent candidate. He returned to the seat in the 2013 polls as the PML-N’s candidate from the same constituency.

In 2018, the former provincial minister was the party’s candidate from Muzaffargarh’s NA-184 and PP-272.

Bukhari remained with the PML-N till February 2021, before joining the PPP last year.

Now with the Bilawal Bhutto-led partty, Bukhari would be contending for Muzaffargarh’s NA-177 and PP-272 seats as a candidate of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam—Fazl (JUI-F) in the February 8 polls.

Sarfraz Ahmad Bugti

PML-N ➡ BAP ➡ PPP

Sarfraz Ahmad Bugti speaks in an interview with Independent Urdu, which was published on Nov 24, 2023. — Photo courtesy Independent Urdu

Sarfraz Ahmad Bugti has previously served as interior minister for Balochistan after winning the elections in 2013. He had won as an independent candidate but later joined the PML-N.

He then joined the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and was elected as a senator from Balochistan in September 2018.

Bugti resigned from the role of the caretaker interior minister and joined the PPP last month, and will now be the party’s candidate for PB-10 (Dera Bugti).

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran

PML-Q ➡ JUI-F ➡ BAP ➡ PML-N

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran. — via X/rehman_khetran

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran was part of the PML-Q during the 2008 elections. Five years later, he was elected to the Balochistan Assembly on JUI-F’s ticket.

The former Balochistan minister then went on to contest the 2018 general elections as an independent candidate and after emerging victorious, he joined the BAP.

Two months ago, he was among two dozen prominent leaders who joined the PML-N as party supremo Nawaz Sharif visited Balochistan to woo “electables” in the lead-up to the February 8 polls. He will be the PML-N’s candidate for PB-4 (Musakhel-Barkhan).

Khetran was arrested in February last year on the suspicion of his involvement in a triple murder case after three bodies were recovered from a well near his residence.

Haji Mir Lashkari Raisani

PPP ➡ PML-N ➡ BNP-M ➡ Independent

Haji Mir Lashkari Raisani. — via Facebook/NawabzadaHajiMirLashkariRaisani

Haji Mir Lashkari Raisani, the younger brother of former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, contested the 2008 elections as the president of PPP’s Balochistan chapter.

Two months before the 2013 polls, he joined the PML-N but lost. In 2017, Raisani switched loyalties to the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and contested the 2018 elections from NA-265 (Quetta-II) but again lost.

However, he seems to have distanced himself from the BNP-M last year as he was among a group of “political mavericks” organising seminars titled ‘Re-imagining Pakistan’, with reported plans to form a new political party.

In the run-up to the upcoming elections, PML-N invited the veteran politician to join the party again but he chose to contest as an independent candidate. According to a Dawn report, the JUI-F is supporting Raisani against Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai in NA-263 (Quetta-II).

Arbab Ghulam Rahim

PML-Q ➡ PML-N ➡ GDA ➡ PTI ➡ GDA

Former Sindh CM Arbab Ghulam Rahim — X/drarbabrahim

During the 2008 polls, Arbab Ghulam Rahim was elected to the Sindh Assembly as a PML-Q leader from PS-60 (Tharparkar-I) while in 2013, he was chosen as a PML-N lawmaker from the same constituency.

In the 2018 elections, Rahim’s Peoples Muslims League (PML) contested as part of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). Later, he was seen close to the PTI — attending its gatherings and being a joint candidate of the GDA and PTI in March 2020 by-elections.

He then formally joined the PTI in July 2021 and became the prime minister’s special assistant on Sindh affairs. The ex-CM went on to merge his PML into the PTI. However, in the aftermath of the May 9 riots, he left the party.

Rahim joined the GDA last month and will be participating in the February 8 polls as the party’s candidate from NA-215 (Tharparkar-II). He will also be vying for a seat in the provincial assembly as an independent candidate from PS-55 (Tharparkar-IV).

Syed Hafeezuddin

Independent ➡ PTI ➡ PSP + MQM-P

Syed Hafeezuddin. — Courtesy: Syed Hafeezuddin’s Facebook page

Syed Hafeezuddin contested the 2008 general elections from PS-90 (Karachi-II) as an independent candidate but remained unsuccessful.

In the next elections, Hafeezuddin emerged as the PTI’s winning candidate from PS-93 (Karachi-V). In 2016, former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal pulled the legislator into his freshly launched Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP). Subsequently, he was the PSP’s candidate in the 2018 polls.

As the PSP last year merged with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Hafeezuddin will be contesting the upcoming elections as its candidate from NA-245 (Karachi West-II).

Usman Khan Tarakai

Independent ➡ AJIP + PTI ➡ PPP

Ex-MNA Usman Khan Tarakai. — NA website

Tarakai was elected to the National Assembly as an independent candidate from NA-12 (Swabi-I) in the 2008 polls. He returned to the assembly after winning the 2013 elections as a candidate of Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP).

After AJIP’s merger with the PTI in 2015, Tarakai won the election for the third straight time in 2018 — this time on the PTI’s ticket from NA-19 (Swabi-II).

The former legislator bid adieu to the PTI on May 20 last year, days after the violent riots of May 9. Two days later, he joined the PPP.

In the February 8 polls, Tarakai will be facing his PTI-affiliated nephew Shahram Tarakai in NA-20’s (Swabi-II) political battlefield.

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