Elected local govt representatives take oath in Karachi, Hyderabad

The newly elected local government representatives, including chairmen and vice chairmen of union committees, took oath in Karachi on Monday.

A total of 42 elected representatives took oath in District East, 48 in District Central, 148 in District Korangi and 180 in District Malir. They belonged to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other parties.

Some elected chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors of the PTI chose not to attend oath-taking ceremonies due to fear of being arrested. A total of six elected local government representatives of the PTI have been arrested by the Sindh police under the Maintenance of Public Order law.

The chairman-elect of the UC-1 in District East, Firdous Shamim Naqvi of the PTI, could not take oath as he has been incarcerated in the Sukkur jail. The district returning officer (DRO) of District East said Naqvi had not requested to be allowed to take oath. The DRO added that Naqvi was already a member of the Sindh Assembly and he could not take oath as the UC chairman without resigning from the provincial assembly.In the current local government structure, the seven districts in Karachi have been divided into 25 town municipal corporations (TMCs), which further comprise different union committees (UCs).

Each TMC has its own elected council, which means that the city has 25 TMC councils as opposed to the previous local government setup that had six elected councils of District Municipal Corporations. The elected chairmen of UCs represent their localities in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s City Council, and the vice chairmen in the respective TMC councils.

Hyderabad

Elected representatives of union committees of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation took the oath of their office in their hometowns on Monday, but the names of the mayoral candidates could not be finalised, adds Aftab Ahmed.

Out of 160 UCs, 159 UCs elected chairmen and vice-chairmen in the LG polls. According to the details released by the Election Commission, 929 out of 955 successful candidates took the oath while 26 candidates could not reach due to various reasons. They will later take the oath from the returning officers of their towns.According to the party list released by the ECP, the PPP is in first place with 100 chairmen and vice chairmen, the PTI is second with 41 representatives, independent candidates have 15, the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan has two and the Jamaat-e-Islami has one UC chairman

Sindh PPP Information Secretary Aajiz Dhamra told The News that Kashif Shoro (brother of Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro), Irfan Gul Magsi, Hyderabad District President PPP and Special Assistant to Chief Minister Saghir Qureshi and Ali Muhammad Sehto have submitted applications. The party will consult and make the final announcement. Talking to The News, PPP District Information Secretary Ehsan Abro said that the mayor should be a Jiyala instead of families having ministries, towns chairmen and UC chairmen.