ISLAMABAD: Amidst serious allegations of rigging in the general polls, the electoral entity has notified the members of Sharif family— Nawaz, Shehbaz, Maryam and Hamza— as winners on their respective National Assembly seats.
Till the filing of this report on Tuesday night, the electoral body had notified over a dozen poll contestants as returned candidates for their respective NA and provincial assemblies’ seats.
Prominent politicians among them are the four Sharifs, Khawaja Asif, Amir Muqam and Atta Tarar from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N).
Awn Saqlain, commonly known as Awn Chaudhry, from Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), is also among the notified NA candidates.
The results of the seats on which these candidates have won the general elections remain highly disputed.
Under the election laws, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is required to issue the gazetted notifications of the general elections within two weeks after the polls. Given that the elections were held on February 8, the cut-off date to notify the returned candidates is February 22.
Section 98(1) of the Elections Act 2017 provides that on receipt of the final consolidated result from the returning officer, the Commission shall, within 14 days from the date of the poll, publish in the official gazette the name of the contesting candidate who has received the highest number of votes and stands elected.
On the night of February 8, the candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were leading the poll charts with heavy margins against their respective electoral rivals in different constituencies across the country when the Election Management System (EMS) suddenly broke down under suspicious circumstances. Several hours later, when the EMS was restored, these candidates lost the polls, as per the ECP’s results.
The ECP linked the delay in election results to the unavailability of mobile and internet services. But, the Commission failed to explain the reasons behind the sudden collapse of the EMS.
The same day, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja had told the media that the blockade of cellular and internet services would not affect results transmission through EMS.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024