Newly-elected LG members sworn in

87, including detained PTI candidates, could not be administered oath

KARACHI:

A total of 12,213 elected local body representatives took the oaths of their offices in swearing-in ceremonies held across 30 districts of Sindh, including Karachi. However, 87 representatives including two detained representatives of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) could not take the oath.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) also had some members who did not take the oath.

The oath-taking was held for 1,117 district council representatives, 545 municipal committee representatives, 933 town committee representatives, 6,696 union council representatives, and 2,922 union committee representatives in various locations and at different times across the 30 districts.

Supporters of the PPP, Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf were also present, kept raising slogans during the event.

Assistant commissioners of the respective districts, acting as returning officers appointed by the election commission, administered the oath to the elected candidates.

In district west, out of 168 local body representatives, 165 took the oath, with three absentees including one of the PTI. In Malir district, 162 out of 180 representatives participated, while 18 elected members did not take the oath. In district south, 10 candidates, including PPP leader Najmi Alam, refused to take the oath, while 146 representatives completed the process.

Similarly in district central, 254 out of 270 representatives took the oath, while 16 individuals, including members from PTI and TLP, could not make it. In district east, 15 candidates, including one from PTI did not show up, while 237 representatives took the oath.

In Keamari district, 183 out of 192 local body representatives took the oath. In Korangi district, 206 out of 222 representatives participated, while 16 local body representatives, including two UC chairmen, did not attend the ceremony.

Notable figures such as Firdous Shamim Naqvi, two detained UC chairmen from PTI and local body representatives from the Pakistan Peoples Party were among those who did not take the oath of the office.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2023.