KARACHI: The maiden session of the newly-elected City Council, scheduled to be held on Monday (today), is expected to be the noisy one with opposition members’ recriminations and protests.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was elected Karachi mayor after a tough fight with Jamaat-i-Islami’s Hafiz Naeemur Rehman who had also claimed numerical superiority in the run-up to the election on June 15.

The JI had the support of 61 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Over 30 City Council members belonging to the PTI abstained from the polling process.

It remains to be seen whether the dissidents of the PTI sits on the opposition benches during the council’s first session or side with the treasury. The PTI had already expelled the 30 dissidents from the party.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2023