• Salman Murad sworn in as deputy mayor
• Bilawal says PPP mayor will end ‘politics of hatred’ from city
• Chairmen of Karachi’s 25 towns also take oath

KARACHI: Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Salman Murad of the Pakistan Peoples Party took oath as mayor and deputy mayor of Karachi at a ceremony held at Polo Ground on Monday.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, members of his cabinet, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, members of civil society and diplomats.

The mayor and deputy mayor were sworn in by Sindh Election Commission Ejaz Anwar Chauhan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Wahab vowed to serve the city without any discrimination.

He thanked the PPP chairman, former president Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leader Faryal Talpur and others for giving him an opportunity to serve the city.

Mayor Wahab said that Karachiites had reposed confidence in the PPP and the party would come up to their expectation. “We have been elected to serve people of the city without any discrimination,” he added.

The mayor said that the newly elected municipal administration of the city would bring the politics of hatred and division to an end.

He said that all union committee chairmen, vice-chairmen and local government representatives belonging to the PPP would play their due role to accomplish the mission of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto for the uplift of the city.

The oath-taking ceremony was marred due to mismanagement by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) organisers as a large number of invitees could not make to the venue due to strict security.

Wahab and Salman Murad won the mayoral elections on June 15 with the support of the PML-N and JUI-Fazl.

Bilawal vows to ‘supervise’ city affairs

Later, talking to reporters, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said that the development of Karachi was now his responsibility. “I will supervise the affairs of the city myself,” he announced.

He said that for the first time the PPP had elected mayor and deputy mayor in Karachi. “This is a historic achievement and result of the sacrifices of the party’s martyrs and struggle of jiyalas,” he said, while congratulating the newly elected custodians of the city.

He said that the PPP would respond to those who were making false allegations of rigging in mayoral election with its performance in the city.

He said that the PPP was prevented from electing its mayors in 1979, 1983 and 2001 due to rigging. “But today, when the era of dictators and selected has come to an end, representatives of PPP are winning everywhere in the country, including Kashmir,” he added.

He said that the problems of Karachi were mainly related to the federal government, but the provincial government would also cooperate with the mayor.

“Under the leadership of Murtaza Wahab, Karachi will have the best local government system as compared to the past,” he assured and added that the PPP mayor would end the politics of hatred from the city.

The PPP chief also suggested that the Jamaat-i-Islami should work together with other political parties. “The JI was trying to capture the city by joining Zaman Park,” he said in a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan.

He said that the JI should not make alliance with those who burn martyrs’ memorials on May 9.

He also said that he bought water tankers because the water supply line to Bilawal House was cut during the Musharraf era.

In reply to a question regarding the census, the PPP Chairman said that the country needed a non-controversial census as many objections were being raised since the previous census.

He demanded that a non-political and non-controversial census should be conducted, which no one would object to.

Meanwhile, chairmen and vice chairmen of 25 towns in Karachi also took oath of their respective offices. The oath-taking ceremonies were held at different places at different timings.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023