Who will be the mayor of Karachi?

KARACHI: A neck-and-neck contest is expected between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Murtaza Wahab and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) contender Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman for the slot Karachi mayor as council members have converged at the Karachi Arts Council to cast their vote through show of hands at 11am on Thursday (today).

The PPP has the support of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Jamaat Ulema-e-Islami (JUI) while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced to support the JI for the mayor and deputy mayor slots. 

Elections for mayors, deputy mayors, town chairmen and vice town chairmen will be held across Sindh today.

PPP’s Salman Abdullah and JI’s Saifuddin are facing each other for deputy mayor of Karachi. Voters will be allowed to enter the Karachi Arts Council hall only after identification and without mobile phones. 

The PPP has a total of 155 votes, the PML-N 14 and the JUI has four votes.

JI is the second largest party in the house with 130 seats in total while its ally the PTI is the third largest party with 62 seats.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan with only one seat has decided not to support anyone.

No party has a simple majority to elect their mayor and their deputy mayor and they will need the support of their allies.

Around 366 members will cast their vote for the mayor and deputy mayor and the mayor will need at least 184 votes to win.

The JI and PTI have 193 votes to elect, a forward bloc has emerged with the PTI with several members still undecided about casting their ballots.

On the other hand, the PPP with the backing of PML-N and the JUI has 173 numbers.