KARACHI: The opposition in the City Council on Friday announced to move a no-confidence motion against Mayor Murtaza Wahab over the Gul Plaza tragedy.

Addressing the media at the KMC headquarters, Leader of the Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) said the opposition had initially hoped that the Sindh government would acknowledge the mayor’s failure on its own but no such step was taken.

“We wanted the Sindh government to realise that the mayor has failed but that did not happen,” he said.

“If the Sindh government does not remove the mayor, we will have no option but to bring a no-confidence motion against him,” he warned.

Advocate Saifuddin said contacts had been initiated with various political parties represented in the City Council, claiming that several groups had assured their support for the no-confidence motion against the mayor.

But for the JI turning its movement into a successful political force remains a major challenge, as historically, the situation has not been encouraging for the party.

On June 15, 2023, Barrister Murtaza Wahab was elected mayor of Karachi after the PPP formed an alliance with the PML-N and JUI-F, taking their combined strength in the City Council to 173 votes.

JI had the backing of 61 PTI members, but 32 PTI-affiliated members failed to participate in the polling process, resulting in victory of Barrister Wahab.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2026