PTI likely to abstain from voting for Karachi mayor election
Pakistan
Not become part of game someone else is winning, says Haleem Adil
KARACHI (Web Desk) – PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh on Monday announced that the party would stay neutral in the upcoming Karachi Mayor election, despite PTI chief’s instructions to back Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
Talking to the media, he said they did not want to be a part of a contest in which someone else was winning. “Once the country gets rid of the dirty system, we shall participate in the race,” he added.
On the other hand, PTI’s union council chairman Asad Aman disagreed with the party’s decision saying that chairmen were taken into confidence over the issue. “We were, are, and shall always stand with the PTI chief,” he added.
We were against the PPP but we would not vote for the JI, he said. “If PTI chairman calls us, something could be done,” he added.
Another PTI UC chairman Imran Parwani said they had to respond to their people. “Mr Rehman told a lie to workers after meeting PTI chief,” he alleged. We could not vote, he said, for an outsider.
The election for mayor slot are scheduled to be held on June 15. So far, no political party has managed to secure majority as PPP gained 155 seats while the JI succeeded in winning 130 seats. PTI stands at the third spot with 63 seats.
A simple majority of 179 is required for a mayor to be elected.
Earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto nominated party’s spokesperson and unelected candidate Murtaza Wahab for the Karachi mayor slot. According to Sindh local government law, Mr Wahab will have to win the elections within six months to retain the slot if he is elected.
