KARACHI
Newly elected Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and Salman Murad deputy mayor of the Karachi will take oath on Monday. The oath-taking ceremony will be held at Gulshan Jinnah Polo Ground in Karachi at 5pm Monday.
Sindh Election Commissioner Aijaz Chohan will administer the oath to Murtaza Wahab and Salman Murad as Karachi mayor and deputy mayor.
Murtaza Wahab and Salman Murad were elected mayor and deputy mayor on June 15 in neck and neck contest between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman.
Barrister Murtaza Wahab was elected after securing 173 votes while JI’s candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman secured 160 votes, the unconfirmed and unofficial results showed.
The voting for Karachi mayor and deputy mayor was held at Pakistan Arts Council under strict security. The doors of the Arts Council were closed after 11 am.
The mayoral contest was between Wahab and Rehman, as all the other candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers, while Salman Abdullah and Saifuddin of PPP and JI, respectively contested for the post of deputy mayor.
According to the entry register 332 elected members reached the polling station, as 34 members of the KMC failed to reach the Arts Council of Pakistan.
JI accused PPP of stealing the mandate of the country’s largest city by population and observed black day against what they called alleged controversial elections of the mayor and deputy mayor.
The JI also wrote a letter to the ECP over the alleged rigging.
However, PPP rejected all the allegations of the JI and asked the Jamaat-e-Islami to respect the mandate of the city.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the wining of the PPP in the local bodies’ elections of Sindh as reflection of people of Sindh on the performance of PPP government in the Sindh.
Over 30 members of the PTI did not participate in the voting and Murtaza Wahab won the contest of mayoral elections by securing 173 votes and defeated his rival Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman who got 160 votes.
