Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Murtaza Wahab was elected the mayor of Karachi on Thursday, defeating the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)’s Hafiz Naeemur Rehman for the coveted seat.
According to unofficial results, Wahab—who is currently unelected and will need to secure a seat in local government within six months—secured 173 votes, while Rehman received 161 votes. The deputy mayor’s seat was also won by the PPP’s Salman Abdullah Murad, who was facing off against JI’s Saifuddin.
While the PPP is the single largest party in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation City Council with 155 seats, it lacked the numbers necessary for a simple majority in the 367-member local body. It entered into an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, but their numbers also proved insufficient for a simple majority. The second largest single party was the JI with 130 seats, also short of a simple majority. It entered into an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf—63 seats, which would have been sufficient for a simple majority if a forward bloc had not emerged in the party that resulted in nearly 30 members abstaining from the vote.
Shortly after the election, clashes broke out between JI and PPP supporters outside Karachi’s Arts Council of Pakistan where voting had been under way. According to local media, at least 10 people were injured in the clashes and several cars were also damaged by stoned being pelted by the protesters. There were also reports of clashes between PPP and PTI supporters in Hyderabad, where an election for the city’s mayor was underway.
Earlier, Wahab claimed to reporters outside the voting venue that the PPP had the required numbers to win the mayoral election. “Our numbers are complete. If Jamaat-e-Islami’s numbers are higher, we will respect them,” he said, adding that it was time for everyone to work together for Karachi.
Rehman, meanwhile, lamented that the mayoral contest was “rigged,” and accused the PPP of arresting some PTI elected members to prevent them from casting votes.
Speaking with media after the voting, Sindh Transport Minister Nasir Hussain Shah lamented the violence that broke out after Wahab’s victory, saying this behavior was historically witnessed from the JI. Provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, similarly, called on the JI to stop the politics of violence and work with the new mayor for the sake of Karachi. He also made it clear that anyone who resorted to violence would be dealt with sternly.