PTI forward block leader denies external pressure,

Murtaza Wahab to take oath as Karachi mayor today,

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI  – Pakistan Peoples Party spokesperson Faisal Karim Kundi said on Sunday that Sirajul Haq had no moral justification to claim the mayorship of Karachi.

Addressing a press conference, he said the people of Karachi had rejected the false claims of JI, adding the PTI members had also not supported the JI’s policies.

He added the people of Karachi had achieved the real freedom and the recent elections which gave Murtaza Wahab mayorship was the evidence that common people were with the PPP.

Earle,

Asad Aman, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) forward block said on Saturday that the 32 PTI members who refrained from voting in the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) mayor election did so without any external pressure.

During an interview with Geo News, he said that he would explain the reasons for not voting in favour of the Jamat-e-Islami candidate Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman in response to the show-cause notice issued to him by the party.

Furthermore, Asad said that they would play the role of an Opposition against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with full force, while sitting on the opposition benches.

He also made it clear that they are accountable to the party, not to Hafiz Naeem.

It is noteworthy that 32 UC chairmen from PTI were absent during the voting for Karachi’s mayoral elections on June 15th. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate had accused the PPP of kidnapping them in order to manipulate the election in favour of Murtaza Wahab.

However, the PPP countered the claim by asserting that the PTI members abstained from voting for Hafiz Naeem due to their own reservations, without any external influence.

Eventually, Murtaza Wahab of the PPP secured the position of Karachi’s Mayor with 173 votes, while Hafiz Naeem of the JI followed him with 160 votes.

Newly-elected Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and Deputy Mayor Salman Murad will take oath tomorrow (Monday) at Gulshan Jinnah Polo Ground in Karachi.

Sindh Election Commissioner Ijaz Anwar Chauhan will administer oath to the mayor and deputy mayor of Karachi.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Murtaza Wahab and Salman Murad were elected mayor and deputy mayor on June 15 in a tight contest after beating the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.

Murtaza Wahab won the contest of mayoral elections by securing 173 votes and defeated his rival Hafiz Naeemur Rehman who secured 160 votes. However, 30 members of the PTI did not participate in the voting.

On the other hand, Jammat accused the PPP of stealing the mandate of the port city and observed black day against what they called controversial elections. The JI also wrote a letter to the ECP over the alleged rigging in the mayor election.

However, the PPP rejected the allegations of the JI and asked the Jamaat to respect the mandate of the city.