ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) on Monday handpicked Malik Sajid Mahmood as its candidate to contest by-election for the vacant slot of mayor Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) scheduled for December 28th.

In a notification issued here, the PTI central chief organizer, Saifullah Niazi, issued ticket to Mehmood and requested the returning officer to allot election symbol to him. On October 1st this year, the mayor Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz of the PML-N had tendered his resignation due to his reported differences with the federal government.

The PML-N holds a majority in the 70-member Municipal Corporation of Islamabad as it currently has 45 members against 25 of the PTI. The party has been backing Chaudhry Riffat Javed for the election against the vacant seat of mayor but the PML-N received a setback when the election commission ruled that three deputy mayors, including Javed, could not contest as after becoming deputy mayors they are no longer part of the electoral college.

Other local leaders belonging to the PML-N who have submitted their nomination papers include Sardar Mahtab, Sajid Abbasi, Zaheer Shah, Wasim Sana Malik, Pir Adil Shah, Azhar Mahmood, and Sajid Mahmood. The PML-N is yet to announce its candidates for the MCI mayor till filing of this report.

In the local government elections held on November 30, 2015, the PML-N had emerged as a majority party. Initially, out of the 79 members of the corporation, there were 51 members from the PML-N against the 28 from the PTI. Later, some members from both sides resigned from their seats to contest other elections.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020