KARACHI: The Karachi presidents of both Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lost their seats at the hands of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, as unofficial results for the third phase of local government polls start to pour in, DawnNews reported on Saturday.
Moreover, the chief of Pakistan People’s Party Karachi division was outnumbered by the candidate nominated by PTI-JI alliance.
Results of the third phase of polling for local body elections held in 12 districts of Punjab and six districts of Karachi have started pouring in.
Initial trends indicate that PML-N is leading in Punjab while in Karachi MQM is in front.
It was reported that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman lost the election for Union Council (UC)-18 chairman seat in Disrtict Central.
According to unofficial results, Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Mazhar Hussain obtained 3,205 votes, defeating Naeem-ur- Rehman who got only 702 votes.
PTI candidate Ali Zaidi lost to MQM candidate Noshad Khan in UC-16 Soldier Bazar, while PPP Karachi chef Najmi Alam suffered defeat in UC-30, DawnNews reported.
Muttahida's expected candidate for Karachi's mayorship, Waseem Akhter, was elected as Chairman UC-11 of Disrtict East. According to unofficial results, Akhter defeated PPP's District President Zulfiqar Qaimkhani.
PTI leader Arif Alvi accepted the defeat and congratulated MQM on winning a large number of UCs in Karachi.
MQM is currently leading in the third phase of local government election by wining 50 UCs out of the total 247 in Karachi, according to unofficial results.
PPP is second after winning 10 UCs from Lyari and Malir, while PTI has won 7 UCs in different districts of the city.
The third phase of local government's election was held in six districts of Karachi including District Central, West, Korangi, East, South and Malir.
Vote count at more than 4,000 polling stations in Karachi begun after the process of polling for local body election came to a largely peaceful end.
PML-N ahead in Rawalpindi
In Rawalpindi, the PML-N is maintaining its majority by beating the arch rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
Former PML-N MNA, Hanif Abbasi told reporters that the people of Rawalpindi had once again reposed confidence in the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N).
The elections held amidst stringent security arrangements in the metropolis did witness instances of altercations and skirmishes.
With all possible chances that many of the independent candidates may win the LG polls ECP has announced that those winning polls will be required, under Sindh Local Government Act 2013, to join political parties of their choice within one week of their publication in official gazette of returned candidates.
With the completion of local government elections in the country, the federal government and respective governments in provinces had fulfilled their promise of basic democracy to masses.
The Chief Election Commissioner and observers, who visited different polling stations on the day, expressed satisfaction over peaceful holding of the polls.
