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The People Party: Ajmal Mehdi promotes his party for the minority Story Tools Email to a friend Print version 27 comment(s) Wednesday, March 12, 2014 4:49 PM EDT

By STEVE COLLINS STAFF WRITER

BRISTOL — It’s not easy to squeeze a new political party into an electoral system that’s been dominated by two major parties for most of American history.

But Ajmal “Lucky” Mehdi, a Center Street convenience store owner, is trying to beat the odds.

“America needs independent people, not just two sides,” Mehdi said while standing behind the counter of his small downtown market.

Mehdi, who lost a longshot bid for a city registrar’s position in 2012, is still hoping to land a city office where he could promote the interest of the People Party he created more than a decade ago to battle the Patriot Act and fight for ordinary people.

Mehdi said the People Party hasn’t been able to gain official recognition despite his efforts.

But it appears that he’s probably wrong about that. State law provides that if a petitioning candidate runs for a municipal position and gets more than 1 percent of the vote under a party banner, then it becomes a recognized minor party in that town.

In the 2012 race, Mehdi racked up 806 votes from among 21,854 cast in the registrars’ race won by Democrat Mary Rydingsward and Republican Sharon Krawiecki. That amounts to nearly 4 percent of the total vote, enough to lock in official status for Mehdi’s People Party.

Mehdi still needs to file party rules with the secretary of state, but that’s a simple process, officials said.

The advantage of recognition is that when the next election rolls around, a candidate nominated by that party doesn’t have to gather signatures through what can be a cumbersome petitioning process.

Mehdi said people need to have access to minor parties so they can break the logjam created by two major parties that don’t pay enough attention to the “very poor people” who need help.

“Other political party members are rich and powerful based on relationship and jobs,” he said. “They don’t have any idea how common American citizens are surviving day by day.”

In Connecticut, there are four minor parties with statewide recognition: the Green, Independent, Libertarian and Working Families parties.

At the municipal level, though, there are many more across the state, most of them focused on a particular town or city.

Mehdi, who filed for bankruptcy recently, said that to advance the democratic system, the city should “arrange a job” for him so he can devote his attention to promoting the People Party and its platform.

“I’m not looking for a million dollars. I’m looking for a basic job,” said Mehdi, who has lived in Bristol for two decades. A native of Pakistan, he holds an associate’s degree in patient care technology.

Mehdi has worked in a variety of retail and computer-related positions over the years before opening his convenience store, which has signs both inside and outside touting the People Party and its promotion of “freedom, peace and justice.”

For more information about his party, see its website at humanfealty.com or its Facebook page.

Steve Collins can be reached at (860) 584-0501, ext. 7254, or at scollins@bristolpress.com. Full story http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2014/03/12/news/doc531fc5d14b044897799524.txt

Sincerely , Ajmal Mehdi 37 Center Street Bristol CT 06010 860.582.2226/ 860.583.3338 We need your Support for Political Change ... Mehdi