KARACHI: Like any other event involving the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) these days, there was a lot of speculation about what might transpire at the oathtaking ceremony for the jailed mayor-elect of Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, and his deputy, Arshad Abdullah Vohra, on Tuesday.

Some journalists suggested that Rangers might show up at the ceremony, but the idea was rejected soon after the event got under way.

Others were betting on whether or not Mr Akhtar would raise the `Long Live Pakistan` slogan after taking the oath.

The speculation stemmed from the fact that the MQM leader was to be produced before a district and sessions court at 11am, right when the oath-taking ceremony was tocommence.

Within a few minutes, reports came in that the district and sessions judge (South), Imdad Khoso, had withdrawn an earlier order on the basis of `not having clearance from the Sindh High Court to administer the oath-taking ceremony`. As a result, the returning of ficer for the Karachi MetropolitanCorporation (KMC), Samiuddin Siddiqui, requested the authorities to present Mr Akhtar at the event to take the oath.

As soon as the order was passed, the empty seats began to fill up as one after the other diplomats, ambassadors and businessmenstarted to show up at the venue.

The fact that Karachi would finally have a mayor after a gap of seven years was repeated far too often at the event. The deputy convener of the MQM`s coordination committee, Dr Farooq Sattar, was the first from the party`s senior cadre to walk in, followed by Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan.

While Dr Sattar seemed to be avoiding the media af ter frequently appearing on television channels in the wake of the Aug 22 speech by Altaf Hussain, Khwaja Izhar seemed to be ready to give a speech to the press that asked him for a sound bite. However, his speech about `political participation and peace` was interrupted midway when Mr Akhtar and Mr Vohra walked in.

Amid a rather unenthusiastic applause from the audience, the mayorelect took to the stage while waving to the people, first towards actor Behroz Sabzwari and then Dr Sattar who was sitting with some diplomats.

Conspicuous by his absence from the audience was Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan, amid reports that the MQMis again trying to have him replaced.

The brief silence that followed was broken by the host, who called Samiuddin Siddiqui to formally begin the proceedings which were already late by more than 90 minutes. Both Mr Akhtar and Mr Vohra then took their oaths, by repeating the words uttered by Mr Siddiqui and occasionally correcting him.

The former administrator of Karachi, Laig Ahmed, was then requested to hand over the `keys` of the city to the elected mayor. Just as this was happening, MQM supporters raised the party slogan, chanting `Zinda Hai Mohajir Zinda Hai (Mohajirs are alive)` and Jiye Muttahida (Long Live Muttahida)`. Just then, a few people at the back raised the Bhutto slogan and within minutes a shouting match between pro-Muttahida and pro-PPP workers began.

Mr Akhtar raised the slogans of the two parties, adding `Jiye Imran Khan`, to make everyone happy. He then asked whether he could continue with his speech.

Though that did not happen, as the group of PPP workers continued chanting their slogans, Mr Akhtar continued by thanking all the contesting political parties. He followedthis up by thanking the Sindh government and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, adding that Karachi needed an energetic and dynamic leader like Mr Shah to resolve the pending issues of `the city which was never treated right`.

Thanlcing the Supreme Court, he said it had taken nine long months before he finally couldtake the oathofhis ofñce.

In a special mention of the PPP chairperson and co-chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari, Mr Akhtar added that they would all have to work together.

Switching to English to address the business leaders of the city, he said that `false but bailable charges` had been filed against him, for which he had submitted a bail application in the court.

What was absent from his speech was any mention of MQM founder Altaf Hussain.

Once the ceremony was over, a relaxed Dr Sattar said the past nine months had been `a painstaking and nerve-wrecking process` for the party. He said: `Fm glad that we have a mayor now. But we need to have participatory politics rather than an isolated one. Fm glad that [Mr] Akhtar mentioned all the political parties in his speech as we`d like the participation of all political parties to make changes in Karachi.` He said the mayor would first need to `seek a parole, from where we`ll take things forward`.

In the end, Mr Akhtar joined Dr Sattar on stage to answer queries from media personnel. Without mentioning the party chief, the mayor said that they would `protect Pakistan`