KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) celebrated a major victory in Karachi after winning a majority in local government by-elections, moving closer to the city’s mayoral seat.
The party has bagged 98 union council constituencies in the port city, strengthening its overall position after the announcement of unofficial and unconfirmed results of the by-elections held a day ago.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has so far declared the results of 240 out of the total 246 seats across the city. The election body has withheld the results of the remaining six seats, including five in the western district and one in the eastern district.
Meanwhile, in the provincial capital, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is second and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is third with 98 and 42 seats respectively.
Other parties that won seats in the local elections in Sindh include Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) seven and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) two, while Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan has one seat each. and an independent candidate.
After his party’s victory, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed gratitude for the party’s success in the by-elections, calling it a “historic achievement”.
The party shared Bilawal’s message after the win on its Twitter account.
The PPP chairman said, “From Karachi to Kashmore, people have once again shown their faith in PPP. It is a historic achievement that all district chairmen, including Karachi and Hyderabad, will be Jayale.” PPP Chairman said.
He further said that the success is the result of the trust of the people, the sacrifices of martyred party leaders and workers and the hard work of colleagues.
پی پی پی چیئرمین و وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا ضمنی بلدیاتی الیکشن میں پارٹی کی کامیابی پر اظہار تشکر
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) May 7, 2023
کراچی سے لے کر کشمور تک، عوام نے ایک بار پھر پیپلز پارٹی پر اعتماد کا اظہار کیا ہے: بلاول بھٹو زرداری
تاریخی کامیابی ہے کہ کراچی اور حیدرآباد سمیت تمام ڈسٹرکٹ چیئرمین…
Bilawal said that the responsibilities of his party’s supporters have increased because now its motto is to serve the people without discrimination.
He has directed the chairmen and councilors of the Union Council to include every street and neighborhood of the province in the development process.
He said that the elected representatives of the party should remember that every street has the house of a martyr Benazir Bhutto and every neighborhood belongs to Quaid Awam [PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto].
Chairman PPP said that the house of every ordinary Pakistani is as dear to him as Bilawal House. He has asked his party supporters to set the standard of service to the people.
Sindh LG polls picture
According to JEE News, out of the 15 by-elections held for the seats of general members in various wards of the city, the candidates of People’s Party, 5 Jamaat-e-Islami, 2 PTI and one candidate of Muslim League (N) won. According to unofficial results available till the filing of this report.
Municipal elections were held in 63 municipal seats in five divisions of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki and Khairpur, amid reports of a few incidents of violence.
Polling for the by-elections started at 8 am and continued till 5 pm without any break. According to the police, the situation was normal after minor incidents in Rashidabad UC 13 Ward 1, Bihar Colony and UC 2 of New Karachi.
Talking about Karachi, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate won in UC No. 6 of North Nazimabad in Central District. His candidate Faisal Naseem secured 4,055 votes. People’s Party candidate Abid Shahid came second with 1169 votes. PTI’s candidate Muhammad Amin came third with 1027 votes.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s Noorul Islam won from UC-2 Orangi District West of Karachi by getting 4778 votes. People’s Party candidate Muhammad Aleem stood second with 3571 votes.
Mohammad Amir of People’s Party won from UC One of Orangi in Gharbi District by getting 2935 votes. PTI candidate Shakeel Ahmed came second with 2925 votes. PPP candidate Arshad Khan won in UC-8 Mominabad of District West by getting 2664 votes. PTI’s Sher Hussain came second with 1380 votes. In UC-8 Landhi of Korangi district, Muhammad Ayub Abbasi of Jamaat-e-Islami came first with 1695 votes while Asim Khan of Tehreek-e-Insaf came second with 826 votes.
After the trouble in Bihar Colony area of Karachi, PTI Sindh Member Provincial Assembly Abdul Rasheed protested.
“When I came out of the polling station, I was [verbally] abused at the gate. I went inside the polling station after showing my card and handing over my mobile phone to the officials.
Apart from Karachi, by-elections were also held on some seats in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki and Khairpur. These seats had not gone to polls earlier due to various reasons, including the death of some of the candidates.
The ECP set up 147 polling stations in 17 districts for the by-elections where Sindh Police personnel were deployed for security.
According to unofficial and unconfirmed results, PPP won two out of five LG seats in Hyderabad. PTI and an independent candidate won one seat each in the city. A UC result was to be declared.
Elections were held for a total of 38 seats of chairman and vice-chairman, district council and general members in 17 districts of four divisions in Hyderabad. Voters in Sukkur Division elected one Chairman and Vice Chairman and one General Member, one UC Chairman and Vice Chairman and one General Member in Ghotki district and two General Members.
In Nawabshah division, a by-election was held on one seat of chairman and vice chairman of UC Nowshahru Feroz, one seat of general member in Shaheed Benazirabad and one seat of general member in Sanghar. In Larkana division, elections were held for one general member each in Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Kashmore districts.
JI and PPP up against each other
Speaking at an emergency press conference late on Sunday night, PPP Karachi President Saeed Ghani also said that PPP candidates have won in the by-elections of the five Union Committees of Karachi. He alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami had spent donations collected on religious grounds to run its election campaign.
He said that the candidates of People’s Party have won on the basis of public service of Sindh government for the development of Karachi. Ghani advised Jamaat-e-Islami to accept the election results instead of making the election process controversial. He alleged that his supporters were involved in beating and injuring PPP workers during the by-elections. Ghani said that the next mayor of Karachi will be from the People’s Party.
JI accuses PPP of changing results
Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman while addressing a press conference claimed that his party has won 8 out of 11 Union Committees (UCs) of Karachi by a comfortable margin in the by-elections, but the state machinery Acting boldly to change the results. In favor of the People’s Party
He said that Jamaat-e-Islami will not accept fake results and will resist the theft of its mandate. He said that PPP mobs attacked their party camps, opened fire and beat up party workers, adding that at least seven JI workers were hospitalized with injuries.
The JI leader alleged that the polling officers in UC 13, a school in Ward One of New Karachi Town, sealed the ballot boxes ahead of time and without showing them to the polling agents, adding that another in the same UC The same story was repeated in the school as well, while PPP workers were found working there.
He accused Presiding Officer Khurram Lakho of colluding with policemen to prevent JI polling agents from entering UC 13 of New Karachi Town. He alleged that in a school of the same UC, Presiding Officer Kamran Raza facilitated PPP goons to cast fake votes despite protest.
Rehman said that the Presiding Officer was Zafar Muawiya in place of ECP Muhammad Shahid at Polling Station No. 38. He said that ballot papers were issued without signatures and stamps at Polling Station No. 30 in UC 6 of North Nazimabad. In UC-3 of the same town, PPP leader Shah Zeb Sati and others attacked the Jamaat-e-Islami camp but no action was taken.
