Election fraud: More startling revelations expected

Election tribunals may decide the case of NA-256 by October 25.

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:

Election candidates have alleged massive rigging in several constituencies during the May 11 vote, triggering calls for verification of votes.

So far, the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has submitted its report on fingerprint verification for two constituencies, more startling revelations are expected when the authority submits its reports on several other constituencies.

The reports of massive rigging in two National Assembly constituencies of Karachi – NA-256 and NA-258 – have exposed loopholes in the electoral system and sparked a debate on the national media about the credibility of the entire electoral exercise.

Verification of thumb impressions of voters from the ballot paper and their counterfoils in NA-256 and NA-258 revealed anomalies in the election results.



Thousands of thumb impressions on ballots could not be verified, many persons who were not registered as voters in these constituencies cast votes, and scores of cases of multiple thumb impressions were detected in the NADRA report.

Sources told The Express Tribune that so far, the election tribunals have sent to NADRA requests for thumb impression verification for around eight constituencies. And interestingly all of them are from Sindh.

On May 20, the ECP had sent to the election tribunal the case of alleged rigging in NA-256 where MQM’s Iqbal Muhammad Khan was declared winner. The move followed a complaint from the runner-up candidate, who belongs to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Under the law, every tribunal is to decide a case within 120 days. This timeframe for NA-256 expires on Oct 20. However, an ECP official was reported as saying that the tribunal would decide the matter by October 25.

A total of 14 post-poll tribunals were set up to hear rigging complaints in the general elections and subsequent by-polls. Headed by retired judges of high courts there are five tribunals working in Punjab, and three each in other provinces.



Relevant laws and powers of tribunals

Under the election laws, any contestant can file a complaint with the ECP within 45 days of elections. In case the ECP feels there is substantial material in the application it can take up the case itself. Other applications after due consideration are sent to the election tribunals.

Before the May 11 elections these tribunals comprised sitting judges of high courts. Due to their normal workload the election petitions sometimes remained pending for years and tenure of the assemblies expired. The new system was adopted before the May 11 elections and an amendment was made in the law stipulating 120 days timeframe for deciding a case once the tribunal receives it.

Powers of tribunals

Under the amended Representation of People Act, 1976, the tribunal should act independently and the ECP is bound to follow their decisions. “These tribunals can nullify the results of any constituency, they can order re-poll in all or selective polling stations. They can disqualify a winner,” said an ECP official.

MQM press conference

In Karachi, the MQM claimed on Tuesday that the NADRA report was being ‘misinterpreted’ by the media.

“There is a difference between bogus and unverified votes. People were unable to read and comprehend properly and quoted the unverified votes as fake,” MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari told a news conference.

He said irregularities were also witnessed in NA-258 from where PML-N’s Abdul Hakeem Baloch won but no one had raised hue and cry.

Sabzwari said the ECP, and not the MQM, was responsible for providing magnetic ink and ballot papers on the election day. “The system is to be blamed for the unverified votes,” he added.

The party would consult its legal experts and deal with the situation in NA-256 in the court.

Shujaat’s comments

In Lahore, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said if thumb verification was done nationwide, 90% of the constituencies would show results similar to that of NA-256.

In an interview, he said election tribunals were bound to decide the petitions within 120 days but so far no decision had been announced by any of them. Under the present circumstances, a tribunal may take five years to reach a decision, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2013.