Karachi: Workers from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) fought Thursday outside the Arts Council, which a polling place for the mayoral election. Murtaza Wahab chosen mayor of Karachi, beating Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman of JI.
The JI, supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had already said that it would fight any efforts to change the results. It also claimed that the PPP had “kidnapped” PTI’s union committee chairmen in order to “rig the polls,” which the ruling party strongly denied.
Due to the fighting, the road from the city’s Shaheen Complex to the MR Kiyani Road closed. There damage to stopped cars, few hurt, and some party workers arrested.
Before the elections, law enforcement kept the workers from the different parties apart. However, this wasn’t enough to keep them from fighting after the results were released.
Sindh Election Commissioner Ijaz Anwar said that anyone who tried to stop the calm voting would be punished. Rangers have been told to arrest anyone who used violence.
