A Copenhagen councillor who defected from the Liberal Party raises eyebrows for running in local elections in Denmark and Pakistan at the same time

Copenhagen Post:

Wallait Khan, a renegade councillor whose defection from the Liberal Party secured left-of-centre parties a dominating position in Copenhagen after last week's local elections, has raised eyebrows for pursuing a political career in Pakistan as well as Denmark.

Khan was elected councillor for the Liberal Party in Copenhagen on Tuesday, only to defect two days later to join the Socialist People's Party. His decision allowed Social Democratic mayor-to-be Ritt Bjerregaard to form a coalition with the Socialists, the Red-Green Coalition Party, and the Social Liberal Party, leaving the Liberals and Conservatives out in the cold.

But daily newspaper Politiken reported that not only had Khan been politically active in the Danish capital, but he had also been on the campaign trail in his old homeland, Pakistan, where he had spent a large part of the year trying to become mayor of a town there.

'We all wondered where he was. When we finally got into contact with him and asked him, he told us he was running for mayor in Pakistan,' said Liberal councillor Jesper Schou Hansen. 'We were a bit surprised.'

Khan said the Liberal Party was attempting to avenge for his desertion with a smear campaign, but said it was true that he had been running for deputy mayor in a Pakistani town, but failed.

'If I had been elected there, I would of course have left the Copenhagen City Council,' Khan said.

Khan, who is a Pakistani citizen but has resided long enough in Denmark to comply with laws allowing non-Danish residents to vote and run in local elections, said six people had been elected in Pakistan despite their Danish residencies.

Khan named cabbies, slaughterhouse workers, and pizza chefs in Denmark who had been elected mayors and councillors in Pakistan. He, however, seems to be the only one running for office in both countries at once.

'We Pakistanis in Europe have a competition between ourselves,' he said. 'We in Denmark compete with Pakistanis living in Norway and England about who holds most mayor posts. I am proud every time a Danish one gets elected.'

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