Daily Times

KARACHI: Waseem Akhtar of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) took oath as the new Mayor of Karachi on Tuesday as Sindh High Court rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Faisal Vawda’s petition to halt his swearing in. Waseem is 20th mayor of the port city.

Dr Arshad Vohra also took oath as deputy mayor of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Returning Officer Sami Siddiqui administrated the oath in a ceremony held at Bagh-i-Quaid-i-Azam attended by families of Waseem, Dr Vohra, diplomats, MQM leaders Dr Farooq Sattar, Aamir Khan, Mrs Nasreen Jalil, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan and Laiq Ahmad the Administrator Karachi.

Waseem Akhtar was brought to the venue from prison in an armored personnel carrier. After taking oath, he was presented with the symbolic key of Karachi by Laiq Ahmad.

Addressing to the audience, Waseem chanted slogans of “Long live Imran, long live Bhutto and long live Muttahida”.

He said in order to make Karachi a progressive and developed city; he would need the cooperation of all political entities. He said he would try his best to resolve issues of Karachi and provide relief to the citizens.

“If Karachi progresses, whole of Sindh will progress. I appeal to Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto to work together with us for the betterment of Karachi,” he added.

After taking oath and assuming mantle of Mayor of Karachi, he said “I am no longer a political person. Everyone should put aside differences and move forward together.”

Sindh earns the most revenue for the whole country. “We will make Pakistan a developed country.”

Waseem was all praise for Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and said he was energetic, dynamic and a young Chief Minister. He expressed hope that he would be soon freed from jail so that he could serve the people of Karachi. The tenure of the city’s last elected Mayor, Syed Mustafa Kamal ended six-and-half-years ago in February, 2010.

Earlier talking to the media at Sindh High Court, Faisal Vawda said a person who was involved in serious crimes and imprisoned could not become the Mayor of Karachi. He said the real issue was that Waseem Akhtar’s leader Altaf Hussain, is a traitor.

On Monday, two separate petitions were filed in the Supreme Court and the SHC against MQM’s mayor-elect. Muhammad Shahid Ghouri filed a petition with SC’s Karachi Registry under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, raising questions about whether a person involved in various criminal and terrorist cases should be allowed to hold the office of mayor. Waseem, a former minister and parliamentarian won mayoral poll by a landslide with 208 of the total 294 votes cast and Arshad Vohra securing 205 votes was elected deputy mayor.