PML-N’s Sheikh Ansar elected first mayor of Islamabad

Ch Riffat, Syed Zeeshan, M Azam become deputy mayors

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Sheikh Ansar Aziz was elected on Monday as the first-ever mayor of Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) while the elected three deputy mayors also belonged to the ruling party.

According to unofficial results, Aziz pocketed 49 votes against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Raja Khurram Nawaz, who received 26 votes through secret balloting here at the Convention Centre.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will formally notify the election result Tuesday. However, after the announcement of unofficial results, the winners were greeted by the party leaders and workers. Local MNA and Minister of State Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Malik Ibrar, MNA, from Rawalpindi were also seen congratulating the party’s returned candidates.

The ruling party’s Chaudhry Riffat Javed, Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Azam Khan were also elected as deputy mayors of the federal capital. All three PML-N candidates for deputy mayor hail from the capital’s rural areas.

The polling for the IMC top slot and three deputy mayors began Monday morning at 9:00m and continued till 5:00pm without any break. No upsets were expected in the election, as PML-N had clear upper hand in the electoral contest, participated by 50 chairmen of union councils and 25 voters of reserved seats.

Hence, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had almost a two-third majority in the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC). PTI candidates for deputy mayors were Fouzia Arshad, Raja Zulqarnain and Ali Nawaz Awan.

Of the 50 seats of the chairmen, 32 seats were won by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Some 2,407 candidates had taken part in the elections, of which 972 were independent candidates, 506 belonged to PML-N, 479 to PTI, 164 to Jamaat-i-Islami and 81 to the PPP, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan.