KARACHI – Voting has begun for the mayor and deputy mayor of the City at the Arts Council of Pakistan, said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a press release issued here on Thursday.
Tough competition is expected mayoral seat as Pakistan Peoples Party’s candidate Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman are on the run. The other parties’ candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers.
PPP council members arrived to VOTE for PPP Mayor candidate @murtazawahab1 and Deputy Mayor candidate @SalmanAMurad1 at polling station at Arts council ,Karachi . PPP Pres Sindh #NisarAhmedKhuhro , @SaeedGhani1 and other present #MayorKarachiBilawalKa #MayorKarachiElections pic.twitter.com/2C353mfzbo
— Fayaz Chachar (@ChacharFayaz) June 15, 2023
For the deputy mayor seats, PPP has fielded Salman Abdullah Murad and JI and Saifuddin.
JUST IN | Jamat e Islami candidates arrived at Karachi's Arts Coucil for Karachi's Mayor election. Party workers gathered outside Arts Council and chanted slogans.#Karachi #MayorKarachi #TOKAlert pic.twitter.com/MyuK2U9WzX
— Times of Karachi (@TOKCityOfLights) June 15, 2023
So far, 303 elected members of the port city have reached the polling station. Three elected members were brought in an armoured personnel carrier.
Hafiz Naeem is the only choice for Mayor of Karachi.#حافظ_نعیم_ہوگامیئرکراچی pic.twitter.com/c09JbISJp7
— Beena Toseef (@beena_toseef) June 15, 2023
According to the party positions, the PPP is the largest party in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation City Council, with 155 seats while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam had also announced their support to the PPP candidate.
The second and third largest parties in the city council are the JI and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with 130 and 63 seats respectively. As the PTI has supported the JI, their combined votes appear to be 193, which is more than the simple majority in the House of 367 members.
However, with the emergence of a forward bloc within the PTI, the result may go either way. In case Wahab wins, it will most probably result in allegations of horse trading by the JI and PTI and the two parties might approach the judiciary to nullify the election.
Who is PPP’s, Murtaza Wahab?
Murtaza Wahab has a political background and is the son of the late Fauzia Wahab, who served as information secretary to the PPP as well as the secretary general of PPP’s central executive committee.
Who is JI’s, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman?
Hafiz is currently serving as president of the JI’s Karachi chapter. He has done civil engineering degree from NED University and a master’s degree from Karachi University in Islamic history.
He served twice as the president of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the JI.
