Who will be the mayor of Karachi?

As things are unfolding, the race for electing Karachi mayor is getting critical, crucial and decisive. Karachi is certainly the Jewel in the Crown of Pakistan because of its diversity, richness of resources (accounting for 65% of federal and 80% of Sindh’s revenue) and its status as the commercial and industrial hub of the country. At the same time, Karachi with a population of around 30 million, is facing numerous challenges related to water, electricity, gas, unauthorised settlements, mafias, unemployment and inflation.

Although PPP has emerged as the single largest party in city council, it lacks the required majority of 184 seats. Jamaat-i-Islami is number two and PTI number three. The support rendered by PTI to JI will enable Jamaat nominee Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to win election as Karachi’s mayor. The last local bodies elections in Karachi were held in 2015 in which MQM secured 64.5% votes, PPP 11.5%, PML-N 9.2%, PTI 4.8% and JI 3.5% . The MQM boycott of the January 2023 elections gave PPP, JI and PTI plenty of space. But, surprisingly PPP which had secured only 11.5% votes in 2015 elections got the highest number of seats in the 2023 elections followed by JI and PTI.

PPP has never emerged as a majority party in Karachi in general elections held from 1970 till 2018. PPP leadership has been claiming that it will secure the coveted Karachi mayor seat which is contested by JI. Allegations of rigging and manipulation by the PPP-led Sindh government have frequently being leveled by JI and PTI. The JI candidate for mayor has secured support of PTI which gives him clear edge against the PPP candidate. Interestingly, when state crackdown is going on against PTI, JI alleges that PPP will try its utmost to prevent PTI chairmen from casting vote for the election of mayor. If that happens then PPP will get its mayor elected which, some circles insist, will be a ‘doomsday scenario’ for the mega city.

Those who are bitterly against PPP capturing Karachi say the MQM boycott gave enormous space to PPP. But, it is alleged that the performance of the last mayor of Karachi, who was from MQM, was dismal as he used to complain that the Sindh government had deprived him of the required resources and authority to run the city. JI had its mayor in Karachi twice: in 1983 and 2001. Both its mayors are still remembered for their performance and the present candidate, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, is regarded as a capable, honest and determined individual who can resolve critical issues facing Karachi like those concerning water, electricity, gas, sewerage, public transport, illegal settlements and unemployment. According to the understanding reached between JI and PTI, the mayor seat will go to JI and that of deputy mayor to PTI.

If elections for mayor and other positions in different municipalities are held this month, general elections, according to the Constitution, must be held in October 2023. In that case, Karachi will witness far-reaching changes, impacting the working and performance of mayor. There is no dearth of information and documentation about how corruption, nepotism, lawlessness, land grabbing and mafias threatened the lives of the people of Karachi during the last two decades. The JI leadership from Karachi is quite clear on how to pull the city from the very many crises and put it on the road to development. Fingers are pointed against PPP that it failed to efficiently govern Karachi and the province of Sindh due to corrupt elements in its rank and file who are a source of embarrassment and shame for the party.

One school of thought believes that unlike PPP, JI is not carrying the baggage of corruption, nepotism, misuse of power and bias against the Urdu speaking population of Sindh. Will JI along with PTI manage the affairs of Karachi in an efficient, unbiased and honest manner or after getting the seat of mayor and deputy mayor they too will deviate from their path? One needs to examine the forthcoming election of Karachi’s mayor from two angles.

First, the track record of past JI mayors in Karachi shows that their focus was on city’s development and planning without compromising on merit. Closer to JI mayors comes Mustafa Kamal (2005-2008) of MQM who launched several mega projects in the city like scores of flyovers and roads that reduced traffic congestion. But he had the support of the then President Pervez Musharraf who approved released huge funds for infrastructure projects. If Hafiz Naeemur Rehman gets a chance to serve as Karachi mayor, it will be a serious test for him to complete K-IV Karachi bulk water supply project which has been lingering since 2006 and has seen its cost increased from Rs25 billion to Rs200 billion. The demand of water in Karachi is 1.2 billion gallons per day but it gets only 600 million gallons a day. Furthermore, every year the citizens of Karachi pay Rs25 billion to the tanker mafia to purchase water which is the responsibility of Karachi Water and Sewage Board. The future mayor of Karachi will also have to deal with the menace of electricity loadshedding as well as the poor performance of K-Electric in managing power distribution in the city. The issue of land mafia will also be a big challenge for the new mayor as the city is full of land encroachment and organised gangs of criminals which along with drug mafia are involved in loot and plunder.

Second, if a JI/PTI mayor is elected, how he will deal with possible non-cooperation by the Sindh government (highly likely to be led by PPP after general elections of 2023) is another thorny question. If Hafiz Naeemur Rehman can mobilise financial and human resource for the betterment of Karachi, one can expect some betterment in infrastructure, sewage, water, public transport and electricity system in Karachi. The image and credibility of a JI/PTI mayor for Karachi will certainly be better than that of PPP because of its questionable performance at the helms in Sindh over the last 15 years. It is also argued that Sindhi nationalists who have a pivotal role in PPP will get an impetus if Karachi’s mayor is also elected from their fold. Hyderabad, which used to have a non-PPP mayor now, will have a mayor representing PPP.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2023.

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