ECP disqualifies Karachi deputy mayor

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan Wednesday disqualified Pak Sarzameen Party’s Arshad Vohra for changing his political party (Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan) after having been elected deputy mayor of Karachi.

The Election Commission had reserved the decision on the petition, filed by the MQM-P in 2017, seeking Vohra’s disqualification on the last hearing of the case. Chief Election Commissioner, Justice retired Sardar Muhammad Raza, heading a three-member bench, read out the reserved decision.

Vohra joined PSP in October 2017 and this development was criticised widely by the MQM-P, which moved the Election Commission afterwards, contending that he had no right to remain deputy mayor, as he had left the party, which had nominated him for the slot. Vohra was elected chairman from the Union Council 49.

The MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, who is now Minister for Information Technology, had filed the application in the Election Commission under Section 36 of the Local Government Act 2013 against Vohra.

The MQM-P Senator Mian Ateeq Shaikh declared the decision a triumph of truth and righteousness and contended that floor crossing would not be an easy task from now on after this decision by the Election Commission.

Senator Ateeq indicated that the next deputy mayor would be from the MQM-P and obviously from Karachi.

Vohra, an industrialist and a former chairman of SITE Association, was an MPA from the PS-115 constituency before he contested and won the local government election. He is facing a case in an anti-terrorism court, pertaining to alleged money laundering.