PTI leadership, Hafiz Naeem responsible for over 30 City Council members abstained from voting in mayoral poll: Saeed Ghani
Saeed Ghani, has said that Karachi’s mayoral election was held the previous day in accordance with the law as those trying to render the entire electoral process controversial are wrong.
PTI leadership, Hafiz Naeem responsible for over 30 City Council members abstained from voting in mayoral poll: Saeed Ghani
Karachi : Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister, Saeed Ghani, has said that Karachi’s mayoral election was held the previous day in accordance with the law as those trying to render the entire electoral process controversial are wrong.
Talking to journalists here at the Sindh Assembly building on Friday, the Sindh Labour Minister expressed gratitude to the people of Karachi for the electoral success of the large majority of the PPP’s candidates who contested the local government polls in the city.
He said the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami’s candidate for the mayoral election, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, should be held responsible for the decision of over 30 PTI’s City Council members to abstain from voting.
He said that from day one Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman had been persisting with his stubborn desire to become the next Karachi Mayor. Ghani said the residents of Karachi deserved honour on the election of Barrister Murtaza Wahab as the new mayor of the city.
He told media persons that the Pakistan People’s Party had been serving the people of Karachi as Mayor-elect Barrister Wahab and Deputy Mayor-elect Salman Abdullah Murad would do their best to come to the expectations of the Karachiites.
He said the PPP had the desire to work along with other concerned political parties to serve the people of Karachi in the best possible manner. Ghani said the People’s Party shouldn’t be blamed for the persistent internal differences within the PTI causing disunity among its workers.
He told media persons that the PTI’s City Council members who abstained from voting in the mayoral election were in contact with the media proving that neither had they been kidnapped nor they were taken, hostage. He said the family members of these PTI’s elected local government representatives also didn’t lodge any FIR in this regard.
He said that CCTV footage purportedly showed that one of the PTI’s Union Committee chairmen had been abducted but later on the same City Council member turned up for polling and voted in favour of the JI’s mayoral candidate
He informed media persons that even PTI leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi had been produced at the polling station for the mayoral election despite that Naqvi hadn’t taken oath as a member of the City Council. The Sindh Labour Minister appealed to JI to come forward to serve the people of Karachi as the PPP would contact all the concerned stakeholders in this regard irrespective of the serious differences with any party.
To a question, he said the JI had properly established a polling camp outside the Arts Council building and assembled its followers.
To another question, he said the Election Commission of Pakistan in its meeting with the candidates had informed them that the gates of the polling station would close by 11 am on Election Day so it was obligatory upon the PTI and JI’s City Council members to timely turn up for casting their votes.