ISLAMABAD: Election on the vacant seat of Islamabad’s mayor will be held today (Monday) with both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vying for the slot.

In the 73-member electoral college, the PML-N has 47 votes against 25 of the PTI. The PML-N has fielded Pir Adil Gillani, who is chairman of Bari Imam Union Council while PTI has awarded ticket to Malik Sajid Mahmood, the chairman of G-10 Union Council. Independent candidate Azhar Mahmood is also contesting the election.

According to District Election Commissioner Naeem Ahmed, polling will be held on the premises of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) in G-6 from 9am to 5pm. He said all arrangements had been completed for the election. The mayor’s seat fell vacant in October after the surprise resignation of PML-N’s Sheikh Anser Aziz. The upcoming mayor will be elected for the next two months.

However, sources in the PML-N said the victory of their candidate would be helpful to mobilise the public for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’s anti-government rally to the capital city in February.

“The timing of the mayor’s election is very important. If our candidate is elected mayor, it will be helpful for our party workers to host PDM,” Deputy Mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi told Dawn.

PML-N’s Pir Adil Gillani, Malik Sajid Mahmood of PTI vying for post. Tenure to last for two months

The PML-N candidate Pir Adil Gillani, 33, who is also custodian of the shrine of Pir Imam Ali Gillani at Ratta Hotar near Bari Imam, told Dawn that he was confident that he would comfortably win the election. He said after being elected, he would try to resolve issues of the residents of the capital.

“The PTI has failed to deliver, so I will motivate the people of Islamabad to join the PDM protest rally,” he said.

All the three deputy mayors, who also belong to the PML-N, were eyeing the seat of the mayor. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan ruled that the deputy mayors could not contest the mayor’s election. This created an opportunity for Pir Gillani, who was awarded the party ticket by former MNAs from Islamabad Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Anjum Aqeel Khan.

Sources said the new mayor could hardly retain the office for two months. The mayor’s five-year term will complete on February 15. However, the sources said former mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz had taken oath on March 4, 2015. They said it was yet to be decided by the Election Commission if the term would be counted from the date of the election or the date of the oath taking.

“We know the term of the new mayor will end in two months but the timing of this election is very significant and after winning we want to give a strong message to our opponents,” Deputy Mayor Naqvi said, adding all MCI members belonging to the party were united to support the party ticket holder.

Meanwhile, a senior leader of PTI said though the party had only 25 members in the MCI “we are making every effort to gain support of those members who after winning the election as independent candidates had joined the PML-N”. He said a tough fight was expected in the election.

He said there was also an internal rift in the ranks of PML-N over award of party ticket, adding that some MCI members of the PML-N were annoyed over award of ticket to Pir Gillani, who had won the election of UC chairman as an independent candidate before joining the party.

“The disgruntled elements will also be helpful for us,” he said.

The first ever local government election was held in Islamabad on Nov 30, 2015, in which the PML-N had emerged as a majority party.

Initially, out of the total 79 members of the MCI, the PML-N had grabbed 51 against PTI’s 28. Later, some members from both sides resigned from their seats to contest other elections.

However, the MCI failed to deliver as it could not get proper patronage from PML-N and then PTI governments. So far, the MCI does not have financial rules while it was not given any special funding from the government whereas the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been paying salaries of MCI employees.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020