KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Murtaza Wahab won Karachi’s mayoral elections on Thursday, defeating Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman who alleges PPP for stopping his voters from voting by kidnapping them.
The election for the Karachi mayor and deputy mayor of the port city were held by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today at the Arts Council of Pakistan.
Wahab secured 173 votes while Naeem Ur Rehman got 160.
Earlier, after being nominated as the mayor candidate, Wahab in a tweet said, “I am a Karachiite – the city is in my veins & nothing would be of greater honor for me but to work for the betterment of our great city.’’
The PPP leader pledged to deliver to the best of his abilities and ‘‘take the entire city forward, working with all stakeholders, political and administrative’’.
Wahab served as administrator Karachi from 2021 until his resignation in September last year.
His resignation came after the Sindh High Court’s decision to temporarily restrict Karachi Metropolitan Corporation from collecting the Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes (MUCT) through K-Electric bills.
He was then serving as Special Assistant to CM Sindh.
Meanwhile, the deputy mayor candidates of the PPP and JI are Salman Abdullah Murad and Saifuddin.
In a tweet, former president Asif Ali Zardari congratulated all mayors and deputy mayors in Sindh.
‘‘The success of elected local representatives is the result of workers’ hard work,“ the PPP’s media cell quoted Zardari as saying.
