‘28 MQM candidates return unopposed’

Karachi
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement said on Friday that 26 of its candidates for the seats of general councillors In Karachi as well as two for the slots of the chairperson and the vice chairperson had already been elected unopposed, writes Shamim Bano.
Before the local bodies elections in the six districts of Karachi, scheduled to be held on December 6 in the third phase of the polls, the MQM said the data it had collected showed that Jameel Warsi and Nabeel Noor, its candidates for the seats of the chairperson and the vice chairperson in UC-20 of the West district, Orangi respectively, had returned unopposed.
Besides, it added, its 26 candidates for the seats of general councillors in different districts had also been elected unopposed.
Friday was the last day of withdrawal and the final list of candidates will be released by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday (today).
The MQM leaders contesting the polls for key posts include Waseem Akhter for the chairperson’s slot and and Zareen Majeed for the deputy’s seat. Others include Dr Arshad Vohra and Rehan Hashmi. Dr Farooq Sattar, Amin-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hussain, Rauf Siddiqui, Abdul Haseeb and Aslam Afridi are among those MQM leaders who have withdrawn their candidature.
PPP list
The Pakistan People’s Party will issue its list of candidates on Saturday. The party’s media cell head, Manzoor Abbas, said the list would be issued after evaluating last minute alignment made with different political parties.
The JI too said it would release its final list in a day or two. Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman and Muslim Pervaiz of the JI have filed their candidature in North Nazimabad and Gulberg respectively.
The PML-N Sindh chief, Ismail Rahu, has announced its would stage a protest outside the provincial election commission’s office on Saturday against the “irregularities and pre-poll rigging” witnessed in the first phase of the polls.