KARACHI: PPP’s Murtaza Wahab took oath as the Karachi mayor at a ceremony held at the city’s Polo Ground on Monday.
According to updates on the PPP’s Twitter, party’s Salman Murad was also sworn in as the city’s deputy mayor at the ceremony.
Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan administered the oath to Wahab and Salman while Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Governor Kamran Tessori and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari were also present on the occasion.
Both Wahab and Salam won the elections for their respective posts on June 15 in a contest that was marred by clashes and controversy, with the Jamaat-i-Islami — the PPP’s sole contender for the mayor’s seat — alleging that the ruling party in Sindh use force to ensure its victory.
Prior to the mayor’s election, the PPP had formed an alliance with the PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, taking their combined strength to 173, while the JI had the support of 61 PTI members, taking the expected number of votes for its candidate, JI Karachi chief Naeemur Rehman, to 192.
While Wahab secured all 173 expected votes, Rehman only managed to get 160 after 30 union council members abstained from the polling process. However, the JI has alleged that the provincial government had coerced the PTI members and rejected the polls.
The party also observed ‘Black Day’ on June 17 and held protests across the country over the election results, and it has now announced a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s office in Islamabad.
JI announces protest outside ECP in Islamabad
Earlier today, JI Karachi chief Naeemur Rehman said on that his party would stage a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office in Islamabad on June 23 (Friday) against the PPP government’s alleged use of force to win the Karachi mayoral election.
“It will be a massive protest and we will question the ECP about the polls it held in Karachi […] the ECP will have to declare the election invalid and rectify all its mistakes,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi today, JI’s Rehman said that the party was mulling taking a convoy of protesters from Karachi to the federal capital on June 23.
“We can’t accept these fake and rigged elections,” he asserted, adding that the PPP had “unlawfully held Karachi’s mandate” to keep its “donkey network” active.
Rehman went on to say that the ECP had completely failed to hold free and fair elections in Karachi, questioning how the body would be able to hold polls across the country. “This was just a trailer, the entire film is yet to be unveiled.”
“How can we trust this institution to hold unbiased elections? If the ECP works as a facilitator for parties, how will democracy flourish in Pakistan?”
The JI Karachi chief vowed that his party would adopt every legal and constitutional path to bring the truth before the public.
“If you had won the elections in a fair manner, we would have accepted the results without any complaints. But we won’t accept this rigging in any way.”
Rehman further warned that he wouldn’t let the PPP interfere in the development work underway in JI’s union councils.
