Daily Times

KARACHI: The Muttahida Quami Movement’s (MQM) imprisoned mayoral candidate made history on Wednesday by wining the local bodies election from behind the bar, a day after the leader of his party was charged with treason.

Waseem Akhtar, who is currently in jail on sedition and terrorism charges, has been elected the 20th mayor of the port city. He secured 205 votes out of 295 votes cast in a peaceful manner.

Karachi’s newly elected mayor vowed to work with other political parties to resolve the civic issues being faced by the metropolis. “I am not a mayor of the MQM. I will work for Karachi. I am Karachi’s mayor,” he said while talking to the media soon after the results were announced. “I have been languishing in jail for the past month on false charges, but the people have voted for me.”

He vowed to seek his freedom in court – but said if denied, he would “solve the public’s problems from jail”.

Meanwhile, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Arshad Vohra has been elected as the deputy mayor with 205 votes. ECP’s Karachi Region Director Tanvir Zaki said that elections in several municipalities were not held due to court proceedings. He told the media that polling stations had been set up in 41 locations across 20 districts.

There are nine districts where candidates won the elections unopposed ? Sukkur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Jamshoro, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, Sujawal, Thatta and Karachi Central.

The MQM emerged victorious in municipal corporations (MCs) of Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas, while the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) secured the rest of the districts, bagging district council chairmanship in Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas.

MQM remained successful in keeping its hold on the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation intact, where its candidates Syed Tayyab Hussain and Sohail Mashhadi were elected as chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

However, the PPP maintained its control over the Hyderabad District Council as Badar Memon and Bilawal Leghari had earlier been elected unopposed as the chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

Town committees in Qasimabad and Hoosri were also grabbed by the PPP in an unopposed contest, while in the Tandojam Municipal Committee, the PPP’s Mir Khan Mohammad Talpur and Liaquat Kaleri defeated the MQM’s candidates.

Scenario was the same in Mirpur Khas, where the MQM won the city’s municipal committee, while district council and other local committees went to the PPP’s camp. PPP’s candidates for district council Mir Anwar Talpur and Mir Ahmed Khan Talpur were elected unopposed. The PPP also bagged Tharparkar district, where the ruling party’s Ghulam Hyder Samejo and Kunwar Karni Singh secured the district council’s chairman and vice chairman slots, respectively, with 74 votes each.