Parties blame ECP for unusual delay in LG poll results – Reuters

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JIs Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and PTI chief Ali Zaidi (right) speak during their separate press conferences on Monday. PPI/INP

KARACHI: Major contending parties, including the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, have expressed concern over an unusual delay in the election results in Karachi and accused the Election Commission of Pakistan of mismanagement.

The ECP took more than 36 hours to announce the results of Karachi’s 236 union committees and Pakistan’s opposition Tehreek-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami accused the provincial administration of rigging and running things in its own favor for it.

The PTI stepped forward and rejected the results and process of the Karachi local government polls and pledged to announce the next course of action soon.

peacefully rigged PPP

polls: PTI

PTI senior leader Syed Ali Haider Zaidi told a press conference that the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad were peacefully rigged by the PPP government.

There is political engineering going on in the city’s deputy commissioners’ offices where closed-door returning officers are manipulating the results, which is causing the delay, he said.

PTI and JI accuse PPP-led government of rigging and manipulating results; Saeed Ghani denies the charges

Criticizing the ECP, he said former Prime Minister Imran Khan had already made the nation aware that the ECP was biased and that a PDM B team [Pakistan Democratic Movement] government.

Everyone in Karachi knew the post-vote rigging was going on, but the ECP was doing nothing to stop it, he added.

He also sent a message to political engineers that they were harming the country by manipulating the public mandate.

He also demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner for failing to ensure free and fair elections.

Considering the situation in Sindh and Karachi under the PPP-led government of Sindh for the past 15 years, no sane person in this province can vote for the ruling party without rigging and political engineering, he said. he declares.

RO used to alter poll results, alleges JI

The Jamaat-i-Islami was also unconvinced by the vote-counting process and even cited documentary evidence proving its rigging claims.

We don’t get the results from the returning officers even after several hours of voting, he said at a news conference in Idara Noor-i-Haq. We strongly condemn this unprofessional and illegal attitude. Returning officers are used by authorities to alter the results.

He said his party had documents, provided by the respective polling station presidents, that suggested the JI won more than 100 UC seats. But overnight, the results were changed by returning officers, he alleged.

PPP denies allegations

However, the PPP, which agreed with the opposition parties on their reservations about the failure of the ECP to announce the results in a timely manner, rejected the allegation of involvement of the provincial administration in the whole process.

There is no doubt that the whole election process is becoming contentious due to the delayed results, Sindh Labor Minister and Chairman of Karachi’s PPP Division, Saeed Ghani, told a press conference on Monday.

However, he said the results in which his party has become the largest party so far are in line with earlier predictions of our victory in local government polls in Karachi.

He also praised JI’s Hafiz Naeem, saying the party appeared to be second in the race.

Responding to a question, he said Muttahida Qaumi-Pakistan Movement should participate in the electoral process instead they decided to stay away from the democratic event.

He claimed that, according to unofficial results, the PPP won more than 100 union committees in the metropolis in the second phase of local elections.

Responding to another question, he said PPP had won majority of UCs in Lyari Town, Saddar Town, five UCs in Central District, six in Korangi District.

PPP Karachi Divisions General Secretary Javed Nagori and others were also present on the occasion.

Posted in Dawn, January 17, 2023

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