PPP’s Murtaza Wahab has submitted his nomination papers for the Karachi mayor’s election scheduled for June 15.

After filing his papers on Saturday, Wahab thanked former president and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for entrusting him with the responsibility.

“I will carry forward the party’s vision of serving humanity. We will resolve all of the city’s issues under the party leadership’s guidance,” he added.

He claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami is accusing him of rigging without any proof and evidence. “We are not to be blamed if someone is not voting for Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman.”

Wahab is the son of late PPP leader Fauzia Wahab and entered politics three years after his mother’s death in 2015.

He was first appointed as an advisor to the CM of Sindh and later became a Senator in 2017. In 2021 he was appointed as Karachi’s administrator, where he stayed till 2022

As announced by the JI, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman also submitted his nomination papers for the election of mayor of Karachi earlier today.

Rehman has been the only competitor of the PPP in the local bodies elections held in January.

He has called for protests on Sunday against PPP’s alleged attempts to changes the rules for electing the mayor.

After filing his papers, Rehman held PPP, law enforcement agencies responsible for the disappearance of the PTI UC chairmen. He said that PPP will break the country, but will not accept others’ mandate.

Responding to Rahman’s statement, PPP leader and Sindh Minister for Labour and Information Saeed Ghani said that Rehman is trying to distort the history by giving such statements.

“It was JI, which was against the formation of an independent Pakistan. We cannot just give away the mayor seat to JI, he said, adding that during the Zia era, Karachi gave its mandate to PPP, however, JI’s mayor was imposed on the city.

“This time, PPP is the biggest party in the city and the mayor will also be from the party,” he added.

PPP is leading with 155 seats in the city council, followed by JI securing 130 seats while PTI remained the third with 62 seats secured, after the successful candidate on the reserved seats took oath on June 7.

However, no party has single majority to elect their mayor without allying with other parties.