How your vote elects Karachi’s next mayor

Voters elect UC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and four general members on Sunday

Sohail Rab Khan

Updated 16 Jan, 2023

Pakistan

At least 245 UCs are up for grabs in Karachi local government polls.

Seven Karachi districts and nine Hyderabad districts went to vote in its local government on Sunday, January 15.

In Karachi, millions of voters will vote to elect members to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and 25 Town Municipal Corporations.**

In Hyderabad, members of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and district councils will be elected.

The biggest battle is for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) with 245 City Council seats up for grabs. One member has already been elected unopposed. This brings the number of directly elected seats to 246. With 121 reserved seats, KMC will be a 367-member City Council.

At least 33 political parties are competing for the election of 245 UC chairmen and vice chairmen or chairpersons. While the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazal (JUIF) are the names people easily recognize, there is also Aam Log Ittehad (ALI), the Pakistan Reform Party (PRF) and Allah-O-Akbar Tehreek (AAT).

The MQM has boycotted the election. This happened right before polling day when the MQM’s factions and spin-offs reunited as part of a grand political strategy. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) accepted Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) and a Farooq Sattar-led faction to its fold but the names of candidates from the PSP and the Sattar-led faction are still on the ballot papers.

Around 1,950 candidates are running for UC chairman seats with an equal number fighting for vice chairmanships.

KMC and mayorship

If you are a voter and plan to visit a polling station Sunday morning, you will be voting to elect at least six local bodies representatives for the Union Committee (UC) of your area. These include a chairman, a vice chairman, and four general ward members.

The person you and other voters elect as chairman to the UC of your area becomes a member of the Karachi Metropolitan Committee. This person will represent you at the KMC, which was once known as the city council and where members aggressively debated issues like charged parking.

The position of UC chairman is the most coveted one because whoever becomes UC chairman will also elect the mayor for the city.

The party which clinches the highest number of UC chairman seats will also get a proportionally higher number of reserved seats.

The following table gives the details on reserved seats.

Reserved for	No
Women	81
Labourer	12
Youth	12
Minorities	12
Transgender	2
Differently abled	2
Total	121

Technically, directly elected members and members elected on the reserved seats will vote in the mayor election, but as soon as the results for UC chairman seats are out by Sunday evening, you will know which party has won control of the metropolis.

MTCs and Town Nazims

The second most important position is that of vice chairman, who will represent your UC at the Town Municipal Committee or TMC.

Vice chairmen will elect the town nazim for their respective TMCs.

Under the Sindh Local Government Act 2021, Karachi has been divided into 25 towns. So, there will be at least 25 town nazims.

Karachi city council once saw vibrant debates on public issues. PHOTO FILE PPI

Reserved seats in TMCs and UCs

The other four members you elect will be working in your area and you may see them more often.

They won’t be the only local bodies representatives. UCs also have reserved seats for women, youth, laborers and minorities.

Other than the chairman, vice chairman and four directly elected members each UC will have 2 women members, and one representative each for laborers, youth, and minorities, bringing the total UC strength to 11.

TMCs will also have reserved seats for women and minorities.

Towns in Karachi

The city has seven districts with varying levels of population density. Hence, some districts comprise only two towns while others have as many as five.