The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has no plans to conduct re-polling in areas where it has received complaints of massive rigging during the recently held general elections as the commission is trying to settle the dust as soon as possible, it is learnt.
A senior official of the commission on condition of anonymity told Business Recorder that the commission has accomplished a gigantic task by holding elections at a time when the country was passing through a critical juncture and majority of the people including major political parties were not sure of elections till the last minute. He continued that the ECP with the help of Pakistan Army fulfilled a national obligation by holding free, fair and transparent elections to put the country on the right track. The 60 percent turnout was a record since 1972 as people came to vote in defiance of terror threats and exercised their right to franchise, he added.
Spokesman of the commission, however, told this scribe that it has so far received 285 complaints from different political parties across the country, requesting re-polling and recounting but the commission will only consider those constituencies where solid proof of rigging is available. He also clarified that all the 285 complaints are being wetted by the commission and if any solid evidence of rigging was found, it might be considered as a process to ensure transparency.
After Karachi, the commission has announced re-polling in five more constituencies which include NA-41 (Tribal Area-VI), NA-46 (Tribal Area-XI), NA-210 (Jacobabad-III), NA-229 (Tharparkar-I) and NA-230 (Tharparkar-II). Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has demanded recounting of votes on 25 seats of National Assembly in Punjab, where according to party chief Imran Khan, massive rigging took place and the polling results were manipulated.
The first recounting of votes was carried out in PP-7 (Taxila), where Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) heavyweight Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan lost the Punjab Assembly seat to PTI candidate Siddiq Khan after a recount at six polling stations of the constituency.
The re-counting at six polling stations of PP-7 wiped out PML-N stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan by 774 votes from the constituency where he was earlier declared winner with a margin of 516 votes. In another recounting a senior PTI leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani lost to a PML-N candidate for National Assembly seat from NA-168 (Vehari).
The PTI is leading with three provincial and one National Assembly in recounting and a re-polling and most recently Dr Arif Alvi of PTI won the National Assembly seat NA-250 (Karachi), after re-polling at 43 polling stations of the constituency. The ECP had postponed elections at 43 polling stations of NA-250, PS-112 and PS-113 constituencies. The PPP and MQM boycotted the re-polling at only 43 stations and had argued in favour of re-polling on all the stations.
When contacted PTI central information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari said that PTI including Jamaat-i-Islami and other smaller parties had demanded that the ECP conduct re-polling throughout Karachi as there was massive rigging. She said that the PTI had submitted enough documentary evidence of rigging on May 11.
Mazari further said that the party had also demanded recounting in twenty-five constituencies in Punjab. In some of the constituencies, she added, the elections results were manipulated, which was proved after recounting in some constituencies. Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) secretary general Liaquat Baloch said that his party had rejected Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) fake mandate on the very first day and boycotted the elections in Karachi.
"We've continuously been resisting the MQM hooliganism, and raising voice to end extortion and we urge all the democratic political parties including the PPP, who believe in power of ballot not bullet to join hands to defeat these so-called political parties", he maintained. Baloch said JI sit-in against the fake MQM mandate will continue and this was the reason the party did not take part in NA-250 re-polling. "We want re-election in Karachi and Hyderabad otherwise the party will give strike calls across the country against election results", he added.
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