Murtaza Wahab, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), became the mayor of Karachi during a ceremony held at Polo Ground on Monday. Salman Murad from the PPP also took the oath as the city’s deputy mayor at the same event. The oath was administered by Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan in the presence of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Governor Kamran Tessori, and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
The elections, which took place on June 15, were marred by clashes and controversy. The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the main rival of the PPP for the mayor’s position, accused the ruling party of using force to secure their victory. Prior to the election, the PPP 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 votes. The JI had the support of 61 members from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), bringing the expected number of votes for their candidate, JI Karachi chief Naeemur Rehman, to 192.
Murtaza Wahab received all 173 expected votes, while Naeemur Rehman secured 160 votes after 30 union council members chose not to participate in the voting process. The JI has alleged that the provincial government pressured the PTI members and has disputed the election results. The party has held protests across the country and observed a ‘Black Day’ on June 17. They have now announced plans to protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s office in Islamabad.
