Clashes erupt after PPP's Murtaza Wahab emerges victorious as Karachi mayor
Pakistan
Murtaza Wahab bagged 173 votes while Naeemur Rehman secured 161 votes
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is quite excited about the election of its candidate Murtaza Wahab as mayor of Karachi.
Wahab is the first politician from the PPP to have become the mayor of the city which is plagued by multiple problems, especially civic issues.
A day earlier, charged workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami clashed outside the arts council minutes after PPP's Murtaza Wahab was elected mayor following an intense competition.
The workers, armed with clubs and sticks, pelted each other with stones and created chaos. Police and Rangers sprang into action and dispersed the mob by mounting baton-charge. Police also arrested some of the troublemakers.
Earlier, PPP's Murtaza Wahab was elected Karachi mayor by defeating Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. PPP's Salman Abdullah was elected deputy mayor, defeating the JI candidate.
Murtaza Wahab bagged 173 votes while Naeemur Rehman could secure 161 votes, according to unofficial results. The election was held through a show of hands. The voting started at 11am at the arts council's auditorium.
Out of 366 members, 333 members were present at the polling venue while 33 members could not reach the polling venue to cast their vote. As the voting started, the doors of the auditorium were closed.
Election arrangements
Around 300 Rangers and police personnel had been deployed for securing the election venue. The interior ministry on Wednesday approved the deployment of Rangers in Karachi for the elections of mayor and deputy mayor.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had written a letter to the Ministry of Interior for the provision of security for the elections of the mayor and deputy mayor of Karachi but it was denied. On the refusal of request by the ministry, Election Commission Secretary Umar Hameed wrote to the interior secretary again, after which the ministry approved the deployment of Rangers in the port city.
The ministry said the number of paramilitary troops and their deployment would be decided after consultation with the ECP officials.
Sudden change in venue
As the scheduled election for mayor and deputy mayor in Karachi approached, a sudden venue change was made due to the adverse weather conditions resulting from cyclone Biparjoy.
Originally elections were to take place at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, the election has been moved to the Arts Council auditorium. This decision was made by officials as a precautionary measure, taking into consideration the expected rainfall and the approaching cyclone Biparjoy which is quickly advancing towards Karachi.
Murtaza Wahab
Wahab holds a B.Com degree from the University of Karachi, an LLB from the University of London and a Bar at Law from Lincoln's Inn. He has served as an advocate of the High Court of Sindh and held several advisory roles in the Sindh government, including adviser on law, information, anti-corruption, environment and coastal development.
He is currently an adviser on the law to the Sindh CM and the spokesperson of the Sindh government. Wahab was briefly a senator and ran as a PPP candidate from PS-111 in the 2018 provincial elections but was defeated by PTI's Imran Ismail, who later became the governor of Sindh.
He is son of late Fouzia Wahab who served as information secretary to the PPP.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman is the president of the JI’s Karachi chapter and holds a civil engineering degree from NED University and a master's degree from Karachi University in Islamic history. He has been a member of JI since 2000 and was appointed as the ameer of the JI Karachi chapter in 2013.
He is also the President of the Al-Khidmat Karachi chapter, an NGO associated with JI. Water shortage and drainage issues are of significant importance to him, and he is committed to seeing the K-IV project to completion. He has been a vocal critic of the privatisation of public institutions such as KE and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
