The 2023 Karachi local government elections were held in Karachi, Pakistan on 15 January 2023 to elect members of local councils. These members would then elect the Mayor of Karachi (2023-2027). These elections were the 3rd Karachi local government elections.

Quick Facts 246 UC's out of 367 of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation 184 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2023 Karachi local elections

← 2015 15 January 2023 Next →
246 UC's out of 367 of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation 184 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	TBD
First party Second party Third party   Leader Saeed Ghani Naeem Ur Rehman Ashraf Jabbar Party PPP JI PTI Leader since TBA 2013 1996 Leader's seat TBA UC-8 North Nazimabad UC-2 Jinnah Town Last election 11.5%, 24 seats 3.5%, 7 seats 8.8%, 10 seats Seats won 155 132 62 Seat change 131 125 52 Popular vote TBD TBD TBD Percentage TBD TBD TBD Swing TBD TBD TBD
Results of each Union Committee (UC) in five of Karachi's seven districts
Structure of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation after the election
Mayor before election Waseem Akhtar MQM Elected Mayor Murtaza Wahab PPP

Close

In the 2015 elections, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan (MQM-P) won 64.5% of the votes and enough seats to elect their candidate, Waseem Akhtar, to the position of Mayor of Karachi. They were followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 11.5%, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)) with 9.2%.^[1]

These elections are being held in the aftermath of a successful no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, which saw Shehbaz Sharif becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan with a coalition government of 9 parties, including the MQM-P, PPP, and PML(N).^[2][3][4]

• On 1 September 2020, local governments across Sindh were dissolved after completion of their terms.^[11]
• In December 2021, Government of Sindh announced that it would hold local government elections in February or March 2022.^[12]
• Later, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that the elections would be held on 24 July 2022.^[13]
• On 20 July, the ECP rescheduled the elections to 28 August, citing "possible rains and bad weather".^[14]
• On 24 August, the ECP once again postponed the elections due to rains and risk of urban flooding. According to a press release, "the new date will be announced when the weather conditions improve".^[15]
• On 14 September, the ECP announced the new date for the election to be 23 October.^[16]
• On 18 October, the ECP postponed the election for a third time, accepting a request from the Government of Sindh.^[17]
• On 22 November, the ECP announced the new date for the election to be 15 January.^[18]
• On 12 January, the Government of Sindh requested the ECP to postpone the elections. However, on 13 January, the ECP rejected this request and declared that elections would be held on 15 January, as scheduled.^[19]

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has 367 members out of which 246 are directly elected by the people of Karachi. Karachi Division is divided into 7 districts, which are further divided into 25 Town Municipal Corporations and further divided into 246 Union Committees (UCs). All 246 UCs elect a chairman and vice chairman on one ballot and councilor on another ballot. Chairman UC of majority party will become the Mayor whereas Vice Chairmen will be members of the Town Municipal Corporation which will further indirectly elect 33% Women, 5% Youth, 5% Laborers, 5% Non-Muslims, 1% Disabled and 1% Transgender's members on reserved seats.

Every UC is divided into 4 wards which elect one councilor. 2 women councilors, 1 youth councilor, 1 laborer and 1 Non-Muslim councilor are indirectly elected.^[20]

After declaration of results, Jamat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are likely to form coalition government in Karachi. Jamat-e-Islami leader Hafiz Naeem will become mayor. PPP leader Saeed Ghani said that PPP welcomes all parties except PTI for coalition and mayor election.^[24] Meanwhile Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi said to support Jamat-e-Islami.^[25]

After recount on 16 January, Jamat-e-Islami gained 2 UC's while People's Party lost 2.^[26] Recount is still due on many UC's in which result is controversial.

FAFEN a prominent election watch organization raised questions about the transparency of the local elections in Karachi.^[27]

Both PTI and JI joined hands against PPP. In a joint Press Conference, Ali Zaidi and Hafiz Naeem stated that PPP with the help of Sindh election commission rigged and changed result of many UC's^[28]

By-elections were triggered by the resignations of dozens of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers and the dissolution of the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.^[29] The Election Commission of Pakistan had requested the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the army and the Lahore High Court (LHC) for providing soldiers and judicial officers for security and voting during the by-elections and the provincial assembly elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. GHQ declined the request due to overwhelming involvement in internal security challenges and the census, while the LHC declined due to a huge backlog of pending cases.^[30]

By-Elections were held for 11 UC's of Karachi on Sunday 7 May 2023. People's Party won 7 UC's followed by Jamaat e Islami Pakistan which won 4 UC Chairman seats.^[31]