KARACHI: A disgruntled group of the elected Union Council (UC) chairmen and vice chairmen of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has not withdrawn from its stance of not voting in favour of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) candidate Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman during Karachi Mayor elections, ARY News reported on Saturday.
In an interview to ARY News, Asad Aman – the leader of 32 disgruntled PTI members – rejected reports of parting ways with the party, saying that he will always stand by the party despite ‘immense pressure following the May 9 events’.
Referring to the show-cause notices sent by PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Asad Aman said that he will submit a “detailed reply” to the notice soon. “I will give the reasons for noting voting in favour of Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman in the reply,” he added.
He also announced that his group will sit on opposition benches in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).
He also held Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) responsible for the destruction of infrastructure in Karachi.
Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) issued show-cause notices to Union Council (UC) members, who were absent during Karachi Mayor elections held on June 15.
PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh issued notices to 29 Union Council (UC) chairmen and sought response in ‘three working days’.
A legal committee has been constituted – on the instructions of Haleem Adil Sheikh – to take legal action against the members who “deviated from party instructions in Karachi Mayor and Deputy Mayor and local government (LG) elections.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) candidate Murtaza Wahab was elected Karachi mayor after securing 173 through a show of hand.
JI’s candidate Hafiz Naeemur Rehman secured 160 votes, the unconfirmed and unofficial results showed. The voting for Karachi mayor and deputy mayor was held at Pakistan Arts Council under strict security.
The mayoral contest was between Wahab and Rehman, as all the other candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers, while Salman Abdullah and Saifuddin of PPP and JI, respectively contested for the post of deputy mayor.
According to the entry register 332 elected members reached the polling station, as 34 members of the KMC failed to reach the Arts Council of Pakistan.
