Impasse over mayorship continues as PPP, JI stick to their victory claims

While voting in overwhelming numbers in favour of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the recent local government elections, the people of Karachi have chosen the path of progress and development of the city.

This remark was made by Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh government’s spokesman and the chief minister’s law adviser, while addressing a press conference at the provincial assembly on Wednesday.

He reiterated the PPP’s stance that the new mayors of Karachi and Hyderabad will be from their party. He claimed that Karachiites chose PPP candidates in the LG polls, and rejected those who believe in the politics of agitation and hold protest sit-ins.

“We’re of the viewpoint that the process of development and progress will get a major boost when the leadership of the federal, provincial and local governments are on the same page.” Wahab said that for the first time the PPP in the LG elections had gained an overwhelming victory in Hyderabad and also emerged as the majority party in Karachi.

“This time the people of Karachi have voted in favour of the PPP because they like a changed Karachi without any law and order issues such as strike calls and extortion. The issue of street crime will be tackled soon, much like we overcame the issue of terrorism.”

He said the PPP emerging victorious in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions is a continuity of the party’s victories in the first phase of the LG polls in Sindh last year. He told journalists that for the first time the provincial government had seriously taken up the issue of public transport in Karachi, saying that under the same drive Pakistan’s first electric bus service was launched in the city.

He added that work is under way to build the Red Line section of the bus rapid transit service in Karachi. He also said the provincial government had launched the Rescue 1122 service in the city.

Wahab said the people of Karachi appreciate that the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases has been providing free-of-charge essential healthcare services to millions of patients. He said the Sindh government had built a special school for autistic children in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood in public-private partnership.

He also said that 31 small and main roads in the Keamari and West districts have been built where a large number of labourers live. Roads and playgrounds have also been built for the fisherfolk communities in the city, he added.

‘JI number-one party’

Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday said the JI has emerged as the number-one party in terms of popular vote and seats in the metropolis in the recent local government elections, so the party will not compromise on its mandate and the city’s mayorship.

Rehman expressed these views while addressing a graceful luncheon held for bureau chiefs and senior journalists associated with TV channels. The event was held at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI’s Karachi headquarters.

The JI city chief accused the Pakistan People Party (PPP) of not only gerrymandering but also tampering with the LG polls results to fraudulently increase its seats, claiming that the PPP was incapable of securing even 70 seats in the city.

He said if the PPP manages to install its mayor in Karachi through unfair means, it will open the floodgates for further negative politics in the city. The JI is advocating for a unanimous city mayor not for its political interest but for the sake of progress and development in the mega city, the economic nerve of the country, he added.

Addressing the “forces” that affect elections, he said that artificially changing the rankings of political parties in Karachi will serve no purpose, and it would instead be harmful for the city. He reiterated that the JI will consolidate its multidimensional struggle and success in Karachi as well as bolster the campaign to develop political consensus for the progress and development of the city.

The JI city chief said that the strategies of the PPP and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will not help resolve the issues of Karachi and its people. On the occasion, he also highlighted the discipline in the JI and the very cemented mechanism for accountability in the party.