JI’s Hafiz Naeem's chances of becoming Karachi mayor in a fix

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman chances of becoming Karachi mayor are in a limbo as close to 30 union council chairmen have decided to skip the session being held for the election of the coveted slot.

A meeting of more than 30 elected UC chairmen of PTI was held in Karachi in which it was decided not to vote for Hafiz Naeem.

The decision is contrary to what the PTI chief had announced as he had said that his party would back Naeem in the mayoral polls.

Elected chairman Asad Aman, told Geo News, that the PTI’s Karachi leadership opposes the decision taken by the central leadership to back JI.

“We were not taken into confidence regarding the decision to form an alliance with the JI,” Aman said. But he added that they were with the PTI chairman and against the ruling PPP in Sindh.

“We have taken our decision independently. Close to 40 chairmen will not be in the City Council [of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation] on the polling day,” Aman also claimed. He added that if the PTI chief calls them then they can look into the matter.

While Imran Parwani, another UC chairman, said that they had to respond to their voters, adding that JI’s Naeem lied to the workers after meeting the PTI chief.

Meanwhile, the PTI in a statement alleged that the ruling PPP was “stealing” elections and is trying to steal the Karachi mayor poll.

“The PPP tried to pressurise elected representatives. The elected representatives are being kidnapped to change their loyalties,” said the former ruling party in the Centre. It added that as per party directives all party UC chairmen will vote for the JI.

“Action will be taken against those who will not come to vote as per party directives,” the PTI added.

Accept mandate of Karachi: Naeem

In a press conference, JI’s Naeem asked the ruling PPP to accept the election results of the local government.

“The PPP is brazenly saying how the elected members will support [JI], The Election Commission should take notice of the statements of PPP leaders,” Naeem said. He added that the ECP should take notice of why a Sindh minister is claiming that elected members will not come to vote.

The PPP and the JI have been vying for the Karachi mayor seat after both parties secure major victories in the local government elections held in the port city earlier this year.

The PPP has become the single largest party with 155 members, including the reserved seats, in the 367-strong house after the LG polls.

Currently, no single party has a simple majority of 179 votes in the house, the count that is needed to ascertain who wins the coveted seat of the port city's mayor.

As per the latest statistics, the total number of the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) is 175.

On the other hand, the JI has emerged as the second largest party with a total of 130 seats, including reserved seats, while the PTI bagged a total of 63 seats. The alliance between the two parties stands at 193.

But with the recent statement of the PTI Sindh president, it does not seem that Naeem has the full numbers to secure the Karachi mayor seat.

The PPP has been claiming that a “jiyala” will rule the metropolis this time and has selected an unelected candidate Murtaza Wahab for the post of Karachi mayor.

While the JI is pitching Naeem as the candidate for the Karachi mayor.

The election for the Karachi mayor's slot is scheduled to be held on June 15.