Karachi Wednesday elected as mayor a politician who is currently in jail on sedition and terrorism charges, a day after the leader of his party was charged with treason. Waseem Akhtar, a former minister and parliamentarian of the influential Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), won the mayoral poll by a landslide with 196 of the total 294 votes cast by the city's municipal authorities. Akhtar was arrested in July and accused of ordering a crackdown on city riots in 2007, when he was serving as provincial home minister, that resulted in a bloody massacre.
Later he was also booked on sedition and terrorism charges. The movement has a stranglehold on the council of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, which elected Akhtar, the MQM's chosen candidate, from among its members. "I have been languishing in jail for the past month on false charges, but the people have voted for me," Akhtar told media outside the historic Karachi Metropolitan Corporation building before being escorted by police to a prison van.
He vowed to seek his freedom in court - but said if he is denied, he will "solve the public's problems from jail". Akhtar was elected after a turbulent two days in Karachi politics that centred on his party's exiled leader, Altaf Hussain. Akhtar appeared to be trying to distance himself from the furore Wednesday. "I am not the mayor of MQM. I am the mayor of Karachi," he said.
Reuters adds: The mayor-elect of Karachi, detained last month on allegations that he helped militants and criminals, vowed on Wednesday to run Pakistan's largest and richest city from his prison cell. Waseem Akhtar's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which swept local elections in December, was prevented from taking office then because of delays in finalising local council elections in parts of the city. The final voting took place on Wednesday.
Early on Wednesday, Akhtar arrived in an armoured police vehicle at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation building to vote in elections that give MQM, which has dominated politics and commerce in Karachi for decades, an unassailable lead. "Thank you Karachi, which has gone through this election in such difficult times," Akhtar said after he voted. "It will go down in history that such an election has never before taken place in Pakistan."
Politicians can govern from police custody under law but it is not clear how Akhtar could run the city from his prison cell. The courts are not expected to release him before he takes his oath, a ceremony likely to be held on August 30. He said he would ask the chief minister of Sindh province to allow him to open an office in jail and make "new rules" so that people could access him. His lawyer, Mahfooz Yar Khan, told reporters outside the council building that the new mayor would run Karachi via video link for the whole five-year term of office if necessary.