In a ceremony held at Karachi’s Polo Ground on Monday, Murtaza Wahab of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took the oath as the city’s mayor.
The event also saw the swearing-in of Salman Murad as the deputy mayor.
Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan administered the oath to Wahab and Salman, with prominent figures such as Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Governor Kamran Tessori, and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in attendance.
Following the ceremony, Wahab expressed his gratitude for the trust placed in him by PPP leadership. He pledged to work together with all party members and Salman to serve the people of Karachi. However, the elections for the mayor’s seat were marred by clashes and controversy. The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the PPP’s sole contender, alleged that the ruling party in Sindh had used force to secure victory.
Prior to the mayoral election, the PPP had formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), giving them a combined strength of 173.
The JI, supported by 61 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), expected to receive 192 votes for its candidate. However, Wahab secured all 173 expected votes, while the JI’s candidate, Naeemur Rehman, received 160 votes due to 30 union council members abstaining. The JI accused the provincial government of coercing the PTI members and rejected the election results.
In response to allegations of rigging, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, speaking after the ceremony, pledged to respond with the PPP’s performance. He expressed confidence in fulfilling the expectations of the people of Karachi and dedicated the victory to PPP’s martyrs and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Bilawal emphasized the PPP’s longstanding presence in Karachi, contrasting it with the emergence and disappearance of political parties overnight.
He urged elected officials to collaborate with the Sindh government to address the city’s issues, assuring that councillors from other parties would not face discrimination. Bilawal also stated his personal interest in resolving Karachi’s problems.
Meanwhile, the JI announced plans to stage a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office in Islamabad on June 23. Naeemur Rehman, the JI Karachi chief, criticized the ECP for allegedly failing to hold free and fair elections in Karachi and questioned its ability to conduct unbiased polls nationwide. The JI vowed to pursue legal and constitutional avenues to expose the truth and prevent PPP interference in their union councils’ development work.
