ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jehangir Khan Tareen talking at the Central Secretariat, demanded a recount of votes in 25 constituencies of the National Assembly, including NA-154 on the basis of thumb impression’s audit.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he held the Returning Officers responsible for the alleged rigging and misappropriations that took place during the general elections. He attacked the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision of the complainant bearing the recount expenses, calling it unfair.

To support his argument, Tareen presented an overview of accounts that reported misappropriations at the hands of the electoral staff and urged ECP to refurnish results in several constituencies including his home constituency, NA-154 Lodhran.

“My application for recount had been kept pending for three days after 14 May while my access to the record had also been denied by the election officials,” he said, while presenting his side of records to those present.

He said that out of 220 bags, the seals on 170 polling bags was broken while counter foils of around 26500 ballot papers were without the signatures and seals of Assistant Presiding Officers.

“Marked electoral rolls from five polling stations were missing while 934 unused ballot papers were also absent from the record,” he added.

Despite all the evidences of rigging, he hoped he would win the race once recounting is completed.

PTI’s Central Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari, present at the press conference, questioned the ECP on it’s decision to charge candidates for a thumb impression’s audit.

“Charging ten or fifteen rupees per vote from the aggrieved candidate who asks for a thumb impression’s audit due to apprehensions about rigging or misappropriation in the polls is completely unfair,” she said.

“It will also deny justice to the voters.”

“In its recommendations, the law ministry advised Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to ratify the European convention for the transfer of prisoners,” said Caretaker Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi.

The ratification of the treaty with Washington will enable Islamabad to seek repatriation of Pakistani citizens imprisoned in US as well as other countries which have ratified the agreement.

However, Soofi said the matter is tricky and may take some more time in obtaining US’ final consent.

Pakistan is negotiating over the agreement concerning the transfer of offenders with approximately two dozen countries.

The law ministry has been given the task to finalise the procedural matters. This issue has also been taken up by the federal cabinet in the past when Dr Aafia Siddiqui was convicted by a US court.

The law minister said the government had two options to seek repatriation of convicted Pakistani prisoners. Either they could join a bilateral treaty called the Inter-American Convention or ratify the Council of European convention to repatriate Pakistani prisoners.

“We preferred the European treaty because it was appropriate,” Soofi said. If Pakistan ratifies the bilateral Inter-American Convention, then only convicted prisoners can be repatriated from Pakistan to US and vice versa.

Pakistan did not want to ratify the bilateral treaty as it was complicated and could also ask for the repatriation of accused persons. For instance, through the treaty, US could demand Dr Abdul Qadir Khan’s repatriation, who was accused of transferring nuclear technology to some states illegally.

After being advised by the law ministry, caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib sought a No objection Certificate (NoC) from the Foreign Office for an agreement with the US on the transfer of prisoners.

Washington has showed its willingness to cooperate with Pakistan over the exchange of prisoners. The outgoing government also endorsed the foreign ministry’s suggestion for Pakistan to sign the Council of Europe Convention to take up Dr Aafia’s case, as well as that of other prisoners.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2013.

These candidates were declared victorious when each of them secured more than a hundred thousand votes, according to unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Around 50 million of over 86 million registered votes were cast on the election day.

Forty-seven candidates of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz secured over one hundred thousand votes each in the elections, making the party reach the leading position in terms of overall votes received.

Eleven of total 18 successful candidates of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) secured over 1.8 million votes collectively.

Nine candidates of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians secured over 100,000 votes each, three candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and two independent candidates bagged over a hundred thousand votes each in these polls.

Not a single candidate from Awami National Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Pakistan Muslim League-Zia, Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto Group, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl and Jamaat-e-Islami could secure over a 100,000 votes.

Interestingly, three women candidates, by surmounting all odds, bagged over one hundred thousand votes each.   A successful candidate from Punjab, Sumera Malik of PML-N, secured 118, 108 votes from NA-69 Khushab, while the two winning candidates from Sindh, Fehmida Mirza of PPPP secured 110,684 from NA-225 Badin and Azra Afzal Pechuho bagged 111,667 votes from NA-213 Nawabshah.

Political observers term it a good omen and give credit to impressive turnout in this general election.

In the 2002 general elections, only ten candidates had collectively bagged over one million votes, with each gaining over 100,000 votes, as the turnout was 35 to 40 per cent.

Among the candidates who gained most votes, MQM candidate Abdul Waseem leads by securing 192,678 votes in NA-243. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s candidate Pir Amin ul Hasnat Shah stands second with 156,709 votes in NA-64, Sargodha.

Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan comes at third position as he secured 147,916 votes on ticket of MQM in NA-256, Karachi, while Dr Khalid Maqbool of MQM secured 141,030 from NA-219, Karachi.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif gained 140,546 votes from NA-68, Sargodha; Nabeel Ahmed Gabol of MQM secured 139,386 votes from NA-246, Karachi while Chaudry Armaghan Subhani of PML-N grabbed 136,991 from NA-111. Syed Waseem Hussain of MQM secured 135,886 votes from NA-220, Hyderabad while Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of PML-N secured 133,906 votes from NA-50, Rawalpindi.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of PML-N secured 132,905 from NA-52, Rawalpindi and Chaudhry Hamid Hameed of PML-N gained 132,668 votes from NA-66, Sargodha.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan secured 132,283 from NA-71, Mianwali while Nasir Iqbal Bosal of PML-N secured 133,128 votes from NA-109, Mandi Bahauddin. Raja Javed Ikhlas of PML-N who defeated former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in NA-51, Rawalpindi grabbed 121,067 votes while Sardar Yousaf of PML-N collected over a hundred thousand votes in NA-20, Mansehra by defeating PTI leader Azam Khan Swati.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan of PTI defeated PML-N senior leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan by bagging over one hundred thousand votes in NA-53. Two independent candidates Afzal Khan Dhandla from NA-74 Bhakkar and Jamshid Ahmed Dasti from NA-177, Muzaffargarh secured over a hundred thousand votes as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (r)  Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds as a gesture of good will. The prisoners have already served their sentences.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting attended by Federal Minister for Law Ahmer Bilal Sufi, Chief Minister Sindh Justice (r) Zahid Qurban Alvi and senior officials of the Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Law and Justice and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

Khoso expressed hope that the Indian government will reciprocate the gesture and release the Pakistani prisoners incarcerated in Indian jails.

The prime minister was informed that currently 482 Indian prisoners were in Pakistani jails, whereas 496 Pakistanis were in Indian jails.

He was further informed that the Government of Pakistan was awaiting the confirmation of national status of other Indian prisoners.

Khoso directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate dialogue with India for the release of Pakistani prisoners and the return of Indian prisoners.

At the same time, the party rejected the results of the May 11 polls just as the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) had done earlier.

“We renounce the May 11 results,” Senator Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasni told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior. “Ninety per cent of the elections were not held in the province as people did not come out of their homes to vote,” Hasni said.

Some 22 districts of the province are Baloch dominated, while eight are Pakhtun majority areas.

Presiding over the Senate panel, Hasni said elections were only held in 20% of the province.

Spending a month and a half in the province, where only Levies forces personnel filled ballot boxes, choosing their favourite candidate, Hasni said it is the Election Commission’s responsibility to announce elections anew in the Baloch belt of the province.

PPPP’s provincial leadership registered a complaint with the Election Commission in Quetta but in vain, he informed the committee. Endorsing Hasni’s view, PPPP Senator Yousaf Baloch said a committee ought to be constituted to probe the matter further.

No voting took place in Dera Bugti, Chaghi, Gawadar, Makran and other areas of the Baloch belt, according to him.

Both lawmakers urged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, to take notice of what they called rigging in favour of some political parties in certain constituencies of National Assembly.

Hasni summoned the CEC, inspectors general of both Sindh and Balochistan and NADRA chairman on Thursday (May 23) for a briefing on how to resolve election-related issues.

NADRA and interior ministry officials will brief the Senate panel on May 23 whether thumb impressions can be verified or not.

Awami National Party’s Senator Shahi Syed and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Pervez Rashid endorsed the idea of fingerprint/ thumb print verification in constituencies where massive rigging was reported.

Sindh security

Elaborating upon the security lapse in Sindh, Senator Mukhtar Dharma informed the committee that robbers held his family hostage in Nawabshah on the polling day, which the interior secretary and IG Police, Sindh did not respond to despite repeated requests.

“Dacoits harassed voters in rural Sindh but security personnel did not rescue voters,” he said.

In response to Dharma’s concerns, Additional Secretary Muhammad Misbah admitted to a security lapse in Sindh. He claimed that the police in the province were deeply politicised.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, presiding over the Senate Panel on Thursday, demanded that re-elections be held in parts of Balochistan.

“We renounced the May 11 polls’ results in Balochistan as most of the people did not come out of their homes on voting day. The turnout in Pashtun districts remained low,” Senator Sardar Fatteh Hasni told the Senate Standing Committee on Thursday.

There are eight Pashtun districts in the province while 22 districts are Baloch dominated, which give them a majority in Balochistan.

Presiding over the Senate Panel in absence of Senator Talha Mehmood, Hasni said he wanted to inform the people that elections were held in only some parts of Balochistan.

Only 20 per cent of the polling stations were working on election day, he said. No one was able to vote in Dera Bugti, Chaghi, Gawadar, Makran and other areas where the majority of Baloch population exists, he complained.

The PPPP lawmakers demanded that a powerful committee be formed to investigate the matter.

Hasni also summoned ECP Chief, Inspector Generals of both Sindh and Balochistan and Chairman National Registration Database Authority on Thursday to hold a briefing on how to resolve election related concerns.

NADRA and Interior Ministry officials are expected to brief the Senate Panel on whether finger prints are verifiable.

Security issues were also pointed out for Sindh with Senator Mukhtar Dharma claiming that robbers kept his family hostage on Election Day and that Interior Secretary and IG Police did not take notice of his continuous requests.

The movement called Tehreek-e-Muhibban-e-Pervez Musharraf (TMPM) will fight against political victimisation of Musharraf and his supporters, and will make efforts to get the former army chief released from ‘jail’.

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) leaders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the decision was taken last week when party chief Musharraf boycotted the May 11 polls.

“We launched TMPM to have our leader quickly released from jail,” said Shakil Qureshi, central president of this movement. The peaceful endeavour is to get Musharraf’s name cleared from all the politically motivated cases being heard against him in courts of the country, he added.

Around 480 APML ticket holders will run this peaceful ‘people’ movement, and some retired senior military men also support the campaign, said Qureshi.

He claimed that Musharraf will be released by May 28.  He also said that General Musharraf will stay in Pakistan after getting released from the ‘sub-jail’—his farmhouse in Islamabad.

APML leaders were to meet Wednesday night to discuss future approach after their meeting with Musharraf, he added.

‘TMPM a message to PML-N’

Political observers also believe that the purpose of such a movement at this time is to send out a message to the newly elected government of PML-N not to drag on Musharraf’s cases.  By launching such movement, senior political analyst Raza Rumi said that Musharraf is trying to stay politically relevant in a situation where all the odds are being stacked against him. “This (TMPM) is yet another attempt to ensure that there are some laws for Musharraf also in a country where his arch rival—Nawaz Sharif is to rule as prime minister.”

Rumi was of the view that the greatest dilemma PML-N faces for its incoming government is whether to prosecute Musharraf.  “If PML-N goes ahead with Musharraf’s trial it runs the risk of enraging Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. If not, then it loses the moral high ground it has maintained for a decade,” he told The Express Tribune.

A middle path may be followed for an amicable civil military relation, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

In its interim report, the European Union, which deployed the largest foreign election observer mission in Pakistan, said the voting at 90% of the polling stations remained ‘satisfactory’.

However, ‘serious irregularities’ were reported on the remaining 10% polling stations mostly in Sindh, said Chief Observer Michael Gahler while releasing the preliminary findings of EU observers during a news conference.

“Overall, this election in Pakistan was indeed a step forward towards democracy,” added Gahler, who also headed the EU mission in 2002 and 2008 parliamentary elections.

He said the EU mission undertook limited observation in Karachi, where they saw some ‘serious problems’ in polling. Karachi was the focus of most complaints reported by rival political parties.

Responding to a question, Gahler said they took note of threats by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain about ‘detaching’ Karachi from the rest of Pakistan. “Let’s see what action the British government takes against its citizen,” he said.

Over 140 EU observers scrutinised polling, counting and the compilation of results covering in total 679 polling stations in 140 constituencies.

Gahler noted that compared to 2008, the number of women National Assembly candidates were doubled, from 64 to 158, and almost tripled for the provincial assembly seats from 116 to 298.

Reading out the interim assessment, the chief observer said strong commitment was shown to the democratic process by political parties, candidates and voters, who continued to participate in the electoral process despite high levels of militant attacks in parts of the country.

“Violence by non-state actors did not deter voters from casting their votes in unprecedented numbers and reconfirming their determined support for democratic rule,” the report noted.  It also pointed out that there was increased confidence in the Election Commission, which had undertaken some stakeholder consultation and was generally seen as operating with more independence.

The ECP, however, has not used its broad powers to establish a complete regulatory framework, leaving critical aspects of the election open to discretion and the ECP vulnerable to inadequate decision-making, it added.

Regarding access of European Union Mission in Balochistan and Fata, Gahler said “Pakistan did not stop us from observing the electoral process there but we ourselves showed restraint due to our own staff security rules.”

Meanwhile, a separate mission by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) recommended that polling results be declared null and void in constituencies where women were not allowed to vote.

In its interim report, the Commonwealth Observer Mission said 2013 elections represented ‘notable progress for Pakistan towards holding fully democratic elections.’

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.

Startling shakeups

The first major upset struck Peshawar’s NA-1, where former railways minister and Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Ghulam Ahmed Bilour lost to Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

This constituency was believed to be a bastion of the Bilour family, and Bilour conceded defeat even before the results came in.

“People are not satisfied with the politicians in power and they want change,” he said. “They have rejected us and expressed confidence in the PTI … I congratulate Imran Khan.

Exceptionally still, the same occurred in NA-2, where Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Arbab Najeebullah Khan, was defeated by PTI’s Engineer Hamidul Haq.

Another shake-up occurred in NA-51, Gujjar Khan. Despite spending billions of rupees on development projects, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was trounced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Raja Mohammad Javed Ikhlas.

Raja had won this seat in 2002 and 2008.

Furthermore, despite their political lineage, the three sons of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani could not win the seats they contested. Abdul Qadir Gilani lost in NA-151, Multan; Ali Musa Gilani lost in NA-148, Multan; and Ali Haider Gilani lost in PP-200, Multan. Yousuf’s brother, Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani, also lost his NA-152 seat.

In another twist, former foreign minister, PTI heavyweight Shah Mehmood Qureshi, lost two constituencies in Sindh and one in Punjab, but won NA-150, Multan.

A string of shuffles

Further unexpected, unofficial results revealed that PML-N’s Amir Muqam lost the NA-30 Swat seat to PTI’s Saleem Rehman. Similarly, Sardar Mehtab Abbasi of PML-N was defeated in NA-17, Abbottabad.

In the same vein, PPP heavyweight Firdous Ashiq Awan lost NA-110 and NA-111, Sialkot, and former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Nadeem Afzal Chan, could not claim NA-64.

Independent candidate Jamshed Dasti battled two prominent leaders – PPP’s Ghulam Rabbani Khar and PTI’s Nawabzada Iftekhar – for NA-177 and NA-178, Muzaffargarh. Dasti emerged victorious on both.

After a long wait, senior politician Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed re-captured his position in his hometown constituency, NA-55 Rawalpindi. Conversely, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan lost his seat in NA-7, Charsaddah.

Outgoing deputy prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Pervez Elahi staved off unexpectedly stiff competition to win in NA-105 Gujarat II against a PML-N competitor.

Muttahida Quami Movement candidate, who recently jumped ship from the PPP won NA-246 Karachi. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Rashid Naseem was defeated.

Senior leaders of PPP in Punjab, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Ahmed Mukhtar, were vanquished in NA 106 and NA-105 respectively. Well known party-mate Manzoor Wattoo was also politically routed.

Moreover, Jhang’s stalwart politician, Faisal Saleh Hayat, was whitewashed in NA-87, while PML-N’s Sheikh Muhammad Akram defeated Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi on NA-89.

Seasoned politician, PML-N’s Liaquat Jatoi, was also defeated in the polls, although he did win a National Assembly seat from Multan.

Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema, a veteran politician who has been winning elections since 1985, ran out of luck this time. Correspondingly, Khurshid Kasuri and Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali also saw their own political downfalls during this electoral round.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2013.

Correction: An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated that Arbab Najeebullah Khan was PPP’s candidate. The error is regretted.

Imran’s party secured a convincing win in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the bastion of Awami National Party, in an election that some analysts predicted would have been an easy ride for Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, according to unofficial results.

However, PTI which enjoyed popularity in urban areas, failed to make inroads into Sindh and Balochistan. In terms of votes, the PTI appeared to be the second largest party after PML-N. The party was running neck and neck with the PPP in the elections.

Imran Khan, who was contesting from four constituencies, comfortably won from Peshawar and Mianwali. He lost from NA-122 to a PML-N candidate by a narrow margin. The results of NA-56 were still being compiled till filing of this report.

Analysts have seen the victory as a refreshing change from the dynastic politicians who long relied on a patronage system to win votes. Besides Imran, his deputy Makhdoom Hashmi won the National Assembly seat from Islamabad.  Jahangir Tareen was also leading in NA-154. Similarly Ghulam Sarwar Khan was also leading in NA-53 against PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan till late night. Hamidul Haq also won from NA-2 against a very strong candidate of PPP Arbab Alamgir.

PTI leader Asad Umer said his party fought a political battle against PML-N in the country’s most populous province Punjab. “It’s a great day for Pakistan’s democracy and a great day for PTI which emerged as the second largest national party and the largest party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” he told The Express Tribune.

Dr Shireen Mazari, PTI’s Central Information Secretary, said her party would not form an alliance with any political party. “Despite all the challenges witnessed in the general elections, PTI supporters will remain steadfast in their vision for a ‘Naya Pakistan’,” she added.

Other PTI leaders, including Shafqat Mehmood and Dr Arif Alvi, alleged that the elections were rigged in some constituencies in Lahore and Karachi. Polling staff was not announcing results in three constituencies of Lahore where PTI candidates were leading, Mehmood told journalists. Same complaints were made by Dr Alvi in Karachi against MQM.

Imran Khan had formed PTI in 1996. His party had won only one seat in 200o. Imran resigned from Parliament in 2002 in protest and boycotted the 2008 elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2013.