Jailed Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Waseem Akhtar was sworn in as the mayor of Karachi on Tuesday at the Gulshan-e-Jinnah along with Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra.
Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Commissioner Samiuddin Siddiqui administered oath to the mayor and deputy mayor.
Akhtar was brought in for the swearing in ceremony from the Karachi Central Jail amid tight security.
After taking oath, Akhtar opened his address by raising the slogan, “Long live Muttahida, long live Bhutto and long live Imran Khan”. He also thanked the citizens of Karachi, his own party members and members of the Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami, who participated in the election.
“Despite the problems Karachi has been facing, I ensure that we will work together for the betterment of this city and the province. The office of mayor is not political,” Akhtar said while urging PPP Chief Bilawal Bhutto and Co-Chairman Asif Zardari to set aside all differences.
The MQM leader announced his decision to fight for justice and move a bail application in the court after taking the oath, saying, “I am currently in prison, but all charges against me are fake.”
“As soon as I am released from jail, I will meet you in your offices and take guidance [from you], and meet people from different walks of life. And of course, with all the political parties that have contested the election for this city,” he added.
Calling on diplomats and businessmen to help him, Akhtar said, “I need your help to overcome the issues faced by Karachi. I will meet people from different walks of life and take guidance. The city of lights has suffered already, I will not let it suffer any more.”
“There were many hurdles. We are taking oath today, after nine months [whereas] London’s new mayor assumed office in just four hours.”
“On the lighter side,” he said, “It is almost as if this was a cesarean child. It was not a normal delivery. Let’s hope for the best.”
After addressing the swearing in ceremony Waseem Akhtar on the insistence of media addressed journalists. He made it clear that it was possible to make a strategy in jail as well as an office. He stressed that he did not have differences with anyone, and added that he would visit the local government minister.
Akhtar told journalists that he would support MQM-Pakistan under the supervision of Dr Farooq Sattar.
He ended his media talk raising slogans for the prosperity of Karachi, Sindh and Pakistan.
Later he was taken back to the Karachi Central Jail under strict security after the oath-taking ceremony.
On winning the mayoral election on August 24, Waseem said, “It will be written in history because elections have never happened like this ever before.” He had made it clear that he is not the mayor of a political party but rather the mayor of all of Karachi and its inhabitants.
Akhtar is among four mayors and 200 chairmen of as many municipal bodies across Sindh who took oath of their offices today.
Earlier on Tuesday, after the notification of victory was issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Returning Officer Samiuddin Siddiqui issued a letter to the superintendent of the Karachi Central Prison to produce Waseem Akhtar under foolproof security to take oath as the mayor of Karachi.
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) arrived at the Karachi Central Jail to transport Akhtar from the prison to the venue for oath-taking a little after 12:15 pm.
The swearing in ceremony was scheduled for 11:00 am but was delayed due to last minute notifications and the PTI leaders petition before the Sindh High Court seeking to stop Akhtar from being sworn in.
Akhtar is the first person in the country to have won the mayoral election from prison with a comfortable margin against his rival candidate pitted by a six-party alliance formed to contest against the the MQM.
The MQM leader has been in prison since July 19 after an anti-terrorism court dismissed his pre-arrest interim application in a case for treatment of terrorists, will run the metropolis via “video link” from his prison cell.
