Karachi’s next mayor will be from PTI, says Zaidi

As part of its preparation for the local government polls scheduled for July 24, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi chapter on Friday gathered its poll candidates at the Mazar-e-Quaid for an introductory session.

While addressing the candidates, PTI Sindh president and former federal minister Ali Zaidi said that the PTI was the only political party that had fielded 241 candidates out of the city’s 246 union committees. He said that Karachi needed a dignified and empowered mayor who could resolve civic issues in the city.

In the 2018 general polls, THE PTI emerged as the largest political party in Karachi by winning 14 out of 21 National Assembly seats, adding that he was optimistic that the Mayor would be from the PTI, Zaidi said. If someone would try to steal the election by rigging, the party would expose them in front of the media, Ziadi said. He said the party leaders had been getting reports that a lot of pressure was being put on returning officers and district returning officers.

Zaidi was accompanied by the party’s central leaders, including former governor Imran Ismail, MPA Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Karachi president Bilal Ghaffar, MNA Aftab Siddiqui, NA-245 by-polls candidate Mahmood Maulvi.

Ismail said the atmosphere was intense in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, because of the local government elections. “Imran Khan and the PTI are currently the most popular in the country,” he said.

At present, the current ‘fake’ government had been using the entire force against the PTI. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party had been using government funds for the elections, Zaidi claimed. The first phase of the local government elections in Sindh was the worst election in the history of Pakistan. “Such elections were not held even during the reign of a dictator,” he said.